The ones that were lost
by Harmonics Rioter
Summary: Five kids are murdered at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and awake as their favorite animated characters. Through the years, friendships will be tested, blood will be spilled, and dark secrets will be uncovered as the restless souls seek justice and answers, while clinging on to their last fading treasure: their humanity. A whole new angle on the story we know we love and thought we knew.
1. On a rainy Tuesday

**Introduction: What am I going to read?**

_(Hopefully something you'll like, but I won't make any promises.)_

Hi guys, welcome to my first attempt at writing fanfiction.

First of all, thanks for clicking this story. Writing is my hobby, and I'm truly enjoying plotting, designing and writing this story. The idea that someone else might get joy out of it, really brings joy to me. Even if you're the only one who will read this, believe me you made my week. Second of all, English is not my first language, and once again... total noob here! What I mean with this is that concepts popular in fanfiction are completely alien to me. Besides that, don't be afraid to correct my grammar. On that same point, comments, suggestions, and criticisms are all appreciated.

With that being said, this is what my story will be like:

\+ Pretty canonical, specially at the beginning. The story follows the main plot line of FNaF, told from the POV of the five murdered kids throughout the years. In other words: no gender bending, and little OC's. We will dig in on the canon characters tough, and expand the universe of FNaF with new concepts and ideas.

\+ Pretty long. I will _try_ to update the story weekly either on Friday or the weekend. If that's not the case, except the newest chapter on a weekday.

\+ Mystery, drama and suspense will be the main ingredients of the story. Relationships may arise eventually, but will not be the main focus; this is not a romantic story.

\+ This story is based on fan-made and personal theories. If you'd like to discuss your personal theories with me, you're more than welcome; just don't expect to see them on next week's chapter.

\+ I'm working on a drawing for the book cover. Don't worry, it's coming, just not tomorrow.

**Disclaimer: The Five Nights at Freddy's franchise and its characters are owned and created by Scott Cawthon. I don't own anything in this story that is made purely for entertainment purposes.**

Now, without further delay, I present to you the first chapter of _The ones that were lost. _Enjoy :)

* * *

**Chapter 1: On a rainy Tuesday...**

If you are listening to this, you've heard the stories; you think you know who I am. But I'm going to tell you this: my name is not Bonnie.

Long ago, we were like you. We had innocence, we had love, families, and dreams. We had a future. But now, I'm tossed on the floor; a bunch of rust and dried blood. What remains of my friends is some scrap metal, and a book. And what remains of me are my torso, two limbs, and this cassette recorder. And by my side, is an open safe. Listen to our pleading, while we still have a voice that can remember our story.

It all began, on a rainy Tuesday.

* * *

"C'mon Mom! Can't we go to see Freddy?" I was sitting on the kitchen table, rubbing my cutlery against it. The afternoon sun shone brightly through the windows of our small apartment. But for me, it was a palace. Mom was washing more dishes than our tiny sink was made for.

"I'm so sorry Brandon. I wish we could, but it's a bit difficult right now, you see?" She walked to where I was sitting, and knelt in front of me. "I'm sorry sweetheart." She smiled her apology.

"But… it's my birthday… and you promised…" I looked down, feeling how little tears came to my eyes.

"Sorry. I wish I could give you a nice big party with lots of presents, but…"

"I don't want presents Mom!" I threw my knife and fork on the floor, and watched angrily as she looked down on them. "I want you! I want my friends! I want you to keep your promise of going to Freddy's when I turned eight! I want… I…"

I couldn't speak anymore. I got a knot in my throat as she slowly picked up my fork and knife, sobbing. "I'm sorry Brandon, I am. We will go to Freddy's for your brother's birthday, and we will celebrate yours then!" She wiped away her tears, and grabbed my cheeks with her warm, soft hands. "Please, it's only in three weeks!" A weak smile appeared on her face. I was about to nod, when the door opened.

"Hey guys, how was…" My brother stood still at the door, a worried expression on his face. "Is anything wrong?" His tattered backpack was slinging on his shoulder while he quietly closed the door. For being just three years older than me, he was way taller, and not so skinny. He walked to our table, and with his hands in his pockets, looked at our teary eyes.

"Nothing Sean, don't worry. It's all fine." said Mom, still sobbing a bit while she stood up.

"Ah-ha... it's this stupid birthday thing, isn't it Don?" he looked directly at my red and puffy eyes, a smug smile on his face.

"Yeah b- but i- it's okay brother… really!" I rubbed my face with my shirt's sleeve, and smiled so widely that my lips hurt.

"Nah… stand up private!" he shouted in a military tone while suddenly standing strong and rigid like a policeman. Like Dad, in the pictures that Mom used to show us.

"Yes SIR!" I jumped from my chair, and saluted my brother. He returned the salute, came by my side, and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Madam Sergeant!" barked my brother, as Mom's eyes jumped from son to son while amusement led away to confusion.

"Umm, yes Sean?"

Seeing that he got her attention, he dropped the act. "Can we do Don's party today, and just order a pizza or something on my birthday?" We both looked at him with puzzled faces and furrowed brows.

"Are you sure Sean? You really seemed to look forward to your party?" asked Mom.

"Me? Nah, it's okay. I really want Don to have this. Besides, I'm getting a bit old for that place, don't you think?" A lie we could all see though. Even at eleven, he loved Freddy Fazbear's as much as the first time he went in there.

Mom rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. With a sigh, she looked at us sternly. "It's a Tuesday, which means I'll have to work. Ferny's father can drop you off, I know he's not really… busy. Do you want me to invite Sarah as well?"

"YES!" we both yelled in chorus.

Mom shook her head, picked up the phone, and smiled. "Boys will be boys."

* * *

During our bedtime stories, Mom used to tell us that when it rained, angels were crying.

And as Mr. Mendez' stuffed car came to a halt, we were welcomed by an almost empty restaurant, two security guards in purple uniform, and a light drizzle. It took a lot of willpower from Mom's part to convince Ferny's and Sarah's parents to have the party today, even while she was paying, but Sean kept insisting that I deserved having it my way for once.

With an awkward thank you, we stepped out of the car; four kids looking forward to having some fun on a weekday, in the one place they knew and trusted like the back of their hand.

"Hey guys, watcha doin' here?" Jeremy leapt out of his chair behind the counter, smiling. He was a second cousin of ours who always managed to get us discounts. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's right! Happy birthday Brandon!" He stretched his long arm over the counter to shake my hand.

"Thanks man, you remembered!" I smiled back at him, while Sean handed him the $50 bill happily. Jeremy held it against the window.

"Is Freddy coming out yet?" Sarah asked tenderly, her golden hair and cute freckles lighting up her face.

"Sarah, you know it's at five. Just wait a little, we can still get good seats." answered a slightly irritated Ferny. Sarah crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue. It was fun to see how she always acted under her age, while Ferny did the opposite. They were both nine, and good friends of ours since kinder.

"Alright, four tickets, usual package, one pizza slice and one coke for each of you." Jeremy gave us the tickets and handed Sean some loose change, all in quarters. It was more than it should be.

"Jerry…" whispered Sean, but Jeremy shut him up with a wink.

"I'll pay it all back once I get promoted to security guard." he said while rubbing an imaginary badge on his purple and white shirt. "Besides, it's your uncle who you really have to thank for all of this." I turned to Sean for answers, but he only raised his shoulders.

"Anyways guys, we have a surprise for you. A family member is visiting Freddy! And he's great! I may even say… golden!"

* * *

**Author's note:**

So, now you know the gist of it. As you could see, this was mainly just an introduction to our main characters and the narrative. Once again; comments, suggestion, and criticisms are all appreciated. And if you want to keep reading this, don't forget to Follow or Fav; that'd mean the world to me. Anyways, take care, read books, and watch the doors. Chapter 2, _The taste of blood,_ will hopefully be added next week Friday. See you then!


	2. A golden surprise

**A/N:** Hey guys, happy Friday! As I said last week, here is the next chapter of _The ones that were lost._ Since chapter 2 turned out much longer than I had planned originally, I decided it would be better to split it up into a more manageable two-part 'special chapters'. But hey, I told you last week you'd get the whole thing this weekend, and you will... so don't panic! This is the first part, and the second one will be uploaded on Sunday, at around the same time as this (10 PM GMT). Also, thanks to all of you who are reading this, and specially those who followed/favorited.

**Edit concerning title: **Some days after this was published, I decided to change the title from '_The taste of blood part 1'_ to _A golden surprise_; purely because that matches the content better. However, that's the only thing that changed; the chapter itself remains exactly the same as before. Anyways, enjoy and let me know what you think about it :)

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**Chapter 2: A golden surprise**

When the show started there weren't even 20 people watching it. Towards the end of it, the light drizzle had turned into a steady shower, but the public hadn't grown. The four of us sat right up front and watched the usual performance. The same numbers, played by the same band, on the same stage. Amazingly, for the first time in my life, I was bored watching my favorite show in the whole world and began to wonder where the surprise that Jeremy mentioned was. Around our table my friends shared my feelings. Sarah yawned, Ferny tapped his foot, and my brother clapped without emotion.

But there was one kid, alone in the back of the room, who really depressed me. He sat hunched, holding his head with his hand and tracing little circles on his table with his index finger; he was around seven, and his coke and pizza were untouched. He gave this feeling of being isolated from everything and everyone all around him. I looked around his table and saw employees and members of the show checking their watches, reading notes on clipboards, and looking confused and irritated. I turned back to the stage to see Foxy threatening Bonnie and Chica with his hook.

"Any idea on what's going on?" I asked Sean. "I've never seen so little people, and the show feels…"

"Disorganized?" he finished. "Yeah, I feel it too."

"Maybe there's a birthday party?" asked Sarah as she took a sip of her coke.

"Don't think so, you need special tickets to join a party." answered Ferny. "Besides, no one here seems to know anyone."

The sudden burst of applause told us that the show was over; Freddy has saved the day once again. We clapped just as mechanically as the animatronics that turned and walked behind the curtain. I was about to get up and hit the arcade, when the MC went on stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls… thank you once more for joining us tonight!" He paused to clear his throat and fix his Freddy Fazbear top hat. "Now we couldn't leave without giving our special guest a _beary_ big thank you! Yes, he's the one who paid for this great party you're all enjoying!"

The four of us exchanged glances of pure and complete surprise. "Fazbear friends, please give a big round of applause to our birthday boy for tonight… Brandon Williams!"

As the MC's cold smile and wide eyes came upon me, I froze to my chair.

* * *

"C'mon Brandon! Don't be shy, no one's gonna hurt you!"

Amongst a surprisingly loud round of applause from the small public, I pushed myself up. Everyone was clapping but my friends; their jaws were swinging in the wind. I clumsily climbed up the stage, tripping over the same wire at least three times. As soon as I was next to him the MC pushed the mic into my shaking hands and plunked a Fazbear top hat on my head.

"Uhm… um… g-goo-good evening?" Everyone was quiet. On our table, Sean looked at Ferny and Sarah and shrugged.

"Th-Thanks for being here… I guess…"

The MC's sudden burst of laughter almost made me jump. "A shy one… now, Brandon."

"Um, yes?"

"Are you ready to show our public your super-dooper birthday surprise?" he paused for a moment, and whispered into the mic, "Or are you gonna leave them hangin'?"

"Um, yes."

"Yes what, Brandon?"

"Um, yes sir." A soft laugh came from the audience. Ferny raised his eyebrows. My brother facepalmed.

"Ha! Hahaha, good one Brandon! I think we all know what the boy wants. So, please give a big round of applause to our newest friend and family member…"

There was a little drumroll.

"Freddy's dear dad… Bucky Fazbear!"

The audience clapped obediently as the MC's arm pointed triumphantly at the door of the room for private parties. Like clockwork, it opened slowly, and out came Bucky for his premier performance. He looked just like Freddy, but was slightly shorter, leaner, and his fur was a golden yellow. I spotted immediately that it was a man in a suit. He stepped out clumsily, stood at the door and did an awkward bow for us as the last applause faded out.

"Jeremy," I whispered, "this is a heck of a surprise."

* * *

"Now, Brandon." resumed the MC, "Four of your lucky friends will join you in our... New! Awesome! Private party room with Bucky! You can eat all the cake and pizza you want, sing songs, paint, play with exclusive arcades…" My heart was racing, but not because of what you might think. I should've been happy, overjoyed, excited… yet I wasn't; something was off. But by now my friends were clapping, smiling, laughing and giving me thump ups like there was no tomorrow. I got lost in thought trying to make sense of everything that has happened so far.

"So, who will they be?"

"Huh?" I replied to the MC's question, in a way that Mom would scold me for.

"Who will go with you?" he asked with the little patience he had left by now.

"Yeah… um… c-can I…?" I pointed at our table as to complete my sentence. The MC nodded.

"Nice hat dude!" teased Ferny as I sat next to him.

"Didn't know you guys had rich uncles, you made me pay for your lemonade all these years!" chuckled Sarah.

"Now, now, hold on Sarah." laughed my brother, "No one here has rich uncles… but my little brother sure has luck tonight!" he raised his cup for me. Ferny and Sarah joined him.

"Hold on guys," I interrupted as seriously as I could, "this isn't my party. Besides, what about the ticket thing Ferny talked about?"

"Okay, okay Don." said Sean in an unsettling relaxed way, "Guys, check your tickets."

We all stuck our hands in our pockets to fish out the crumbled tickets. I opened mine up, checked the back and read what was stamped there out loud. "Private Party. Guest of honor. Paid. Date: 8-8-86. Access to all entertainment facilities."

"Mine says the same." said Sarah.

"Ours too." confirmed Ferny as he checked my brother's ticket.

I held my ticket in my hand and looked at it as if somehow more words would appear. "You think Jeremy did this, brother?"

"I don't know Don, and honestly, I don't care." He ate his last bit of pizza. "Maybe it was an intentional mix-up. Maybe it was accidental, and another Brandon Williams who was supposed to come didn't show up. All I know is, that this is a heaven's sent. How often do these things happen Don? How often do they happen to _us_?"

I shrugged and shook my head. "I don't know Sean."

"Just think about it," he continued, "we can bring pizza and cake and other stuff home, for Mom! We can help her out private! You know how it's been since, you know…" He cleared his throat. "At least, do it for her."

I nodded. "Yes… you're right. Okay then, let's start this party!" I was about to get up and go back to the stage, when my brother stopped me.

"Guys, this deserves a toast." he said as he stood up and grabbed his almost empty cup. We did the same.

"The usual one Sean?" asked Sarah

"Yup…" he replied, raising his cup. "Do it Ferny!"

"THREE! TWO! ONE!" called out Ferny, "FRIENDS TILL THE END!" We banged our cups together and shared a good laugh.

* * *

**A/N:** As I said, the second part of this chapter will be uploaded on Sunday, at around 10 PM GMT. Don't be afraid to leave comments criticizing or suggesting something; they're more than welcome. By the way, did you guys catch the little easter-egg regarding the date? Anyways, see you soon!


	3. The taste of blood

**A/N:** So, I let myself go on this one. Future chapters will be shorter and more concise, I promise. But bear with me, many things here will come back in the future. To be more specific, next week Friday. See you guys then.

**Edit concerning title: **Some of you will notice that I changed the title of chapters 2 and 3; this is purely to match the content itself better. Besides that, I didn't change absolutely anything, so rest assured!

* * *

**Chapter 3: The taste of blood**

With new confidence, I climbed up the stage, fixed up my Fazbear top hat and grabbed the mic from the MC. "Okay sir, we're ready!" My friends cheered and clapped at these words.

"Yes, very good Brandon." said the now tired MC. "You still miss someone."

"Oh, umm…" I babbled as I felt my little confidence flush away. At our table, my friends were calling me over, signaling me to just forget about the guest we didn't pay for and go to the party room. They pointed at the door where Bucky stood, inviting me to get in. But I couldn't help that my eyes glided over to the lonely kid in the back, still hunched over his untouched meal, still tracing little circles on his table.

"Him!" I said, pointing directly at him. My friends and the few people in the audience still following turned their heads to see the little kid. He finally stopped the circle tracing to look back at them with sleepy eyes, surely wondering what was going on.

"Well then, umm, great!" stammered the MC, clearly surprised. "Umm, enjoy your party! And… yeah, Bucky will be there with you. Enjoy!" he said at least, walking away behind curtains, muttering something I couldn't understand.

The kids' eyes were fixated on me as I climbed down the stage towards my friends' table.

"Brandon, you know him?" asked Sarah, clearly hoping for a 'yes' as an answer.

"Nope." I said smugly "All I know is that he's been alone on that table since we went in here. He needs company, and we're gonna give him a fun night." Again, Ferny raised his eyebrows. Again, my brother facepalmed.

"Did you even stop to _think, _Don." he said, still with his hand on his face. "That he may know the _real_ Brandon Williams?" I didn't stop to think that.

"Or that he may not have a special ticket?" said Ferny.

"Or that he wouldn't want to join us?" said Sarah.

"Or maybe…" started Sean again, but I was already walking towards the kid's table, not noticing what he was saying. "Don!" I heard him call out behind me. "Brandon!"

* * *

All along the kid's eyes were glued at mine, looking at me like a deer looks at an approaching wolf. But as I walked towards his table, they slowly went lower and lower. By the time I was next to him, and I heard my brother, Sarah and Ferny get up behind me, the kid was looking at my feet.

"Hi…" I said softly. "What's your name?" No answer, at least not in words. He started to slowly trace and retrace an 'X' on his table.

"You really are something aren't you?" I heard an irritated Sarah say behind me. I turned around to see my friends standing beside her.

"These are my friends." I said just as softly and slowly, ignoring Ferny's and Sarah's sighs. The kid's eyes slowly went up to see them, then fell to the floor again.

But I wasn't going to give up. "My friends and I would really like it if you joined us at our party."

"Would we?" asked Ferny sarcastically.

"Yes." I hissed back. "We would."

Then, he spoke. "I'm waiting for my brother, Michael." It sounded like a loud, shy whisper. He didn't look up at us. "He's at the arcade… he'll be back soon."

"Guess that settles it." said my brother. "Can't say we didn't try Don…"

"Listen… you." I said, telling myself that I had to convince this kid, even to just prove my friends wrong. "Just, half an hour. We go, eat some cake, play some games and you can leave whenever you want." I saw that he stopped tracing the X's; he was thinking about it. "Nothing bad will happen, alright? We will keep you safe. Bucky will keep you safe. I know you're shy, but I just want to see a smile on your face." I smiled at him, and to my surprise, he got up and looked at the arcade at the other side of the room.

"You promise?" he said in his whisper, but this time there was emotion in there.

I sighed. "I promise." I said at last. Sarah and Ferny did a little clap.

"So, I'm Brandon. These are Sean, my brother, Ferny and Sarah." I said, pointing at each respective person. "And you are?"

"I-I'm Jack." he stammered, still not looking up. "J-Jack Sch-Schmidt"

"Alright Jack…" said Sarah. "Should we get going? We've wasted enough time already."

"Don't worry." said my brother "We'll have to wait out the rain anyways."

We hadn't noticed, but the rain had gotten worse: it was a pretty heavy shower now. At the entrance to the room, Bucky was holding the door open, patiently waiting for us to enter. Inside we could see the arcades and what looked like a very, _very _big birthday cake. With smiles on everyone's faces, but Jack's, we walked over to the open door. As I saw everyone walk in I realized Bucky didn't ask anyone for tickets. Standing on the doorframe, looking at the expensive party I never thought I'd get, I felt the slightest bit of guilt. It was then that I saw Sean, Ferny, and Sarah run through the room, laughing, smiling, and waving at me to join them. I took a deep breath and stepped inside. Behind me, I heard Bucky slowly close the door.

* * *

"Woah, look at these!" shouted Ferny as he ran past Jack towards the arcades at the back of the room. "They're all free to play guys!"

"Look, my drawings!" called out Sarah as she looked at a bunch of pencil drawings posted on a wall next to a little door. "They kept them!"

But my brother and I were mesmerized by the giant cake in the center of the room. "What do you think Don?" he asked, "Looks like vanilla to me."

"I don't know brother," I said with a hungry grin on my face, "and I don't care as long as we get to devour it!"

Our trance was broken by Bucky walking behind us and going to where Sarah was standing. Without saying a word he opened the door beside her and stepped in a little dark room before closing it again.

"Weird…" I said to my brother. "Isn't he supposed to play with us, or sing, or something?"

"Give the poor man a break Don." he answered, grabbing a cherry from the cake. "He's only human."

"Well, aren't you supposed to protect my innocence and childhood dreams?" I answered, faking anger.

"Please, you were the one that ran up to mom and I three years ago shouting 'Mommy! Mommy! Theiw wobots! Theiw wobots!', not me!"

We both laughed at the happy little memory, but then, I heard something. Through the constant sound of rain, I heard a faint banging noise coming from a tall locker on the opposite wall to where Sarah and the door where Bucky stepped in were.

"What the..." I whispered, as my brother and I approached the locker. Without hesitation, he opened it. Out of it, a man dressed in a golden shirt and pants fell to the floor at our feet, his wrists were slit wide open and covered in blood.

"H… Help… me…" he groaned. As he did, I felt my blood freeze in my veins. My head felt heavy, my legs were weak. Before I could even scream, I heard the door behind us open, then a footstep, then a high-pitched whimper, loud and soft at the same time.

I turned around to see Sarah's teary eyes staring at us blankly, a kitchen knife's handle sticking out of the side of her chest. A dark stain ran down her body, dyeing her clothes red. Her mouth twitched a few times before she fell to the ground in slow motion, barely making a sound, like a dead leaf that falls from a tree. Behind her stood a tall, lean man. He had a ski mask on his face, a cleaver in his hand, and the purple uniform and orange badge of the security guards of Freddy Fazbear's.

"Oh _no_… you weren't supposed to see _that_." he said with exaggerated worry on his voice, while he got on his knees to pull out the knife from Sarah's still moving chest. "Well, guess that doesn't really matter that much."

A cold sweat broke out of my forehead and I felt an unbearable sickness in my stomach. I tried to scream, shout, cry… but no sound would come out. I saw Ferny standing in front of the arcades, paralyzed; his mouth and eyes wide open in an expression that was the definition of terror. My brother looked at the man in pretty much the same way. By the door, Jack was sitting motionless on the floor, his hands covering his face.

"S-Sarah…" I heard Ferny whimper softly. "_Sarah…_" he hissed strenuously. "D-Dammit… I… I can't scream…" his voice was drenched in desperation to make itself be heard. "H-Help… somebody…" he hissed, "P-Please…" his voice cracked as tears rolled out of his eyes.

Besides me, my brother was groaning, his legs were twitching and bending, but his feet didn't slide an inch. "I… I can't move…" he whimpered in disbelieve. "_Goddammit! Why can't I move!"_

"Yeah, about that guys." The masked man in purple said casually, while pulling the bloody kitchen knife from Sarah's now completely inert body. "I apologize for the inconvenience. Couldn't take any chances you see." He stood up, carelessly swinging the dripping knife and the cleaver as he slowly walked towards Ferny. "Don't worry tough." whispered the man sweetly "It will be over very soon."

"H-How…" stammered Ferny forcefully through the sobs, looking pitifully at us.

He looked up at the man standing in front of him, but now there was more than just sadness and fear on his face. As the man rose up his cleaver, he snarled at him with feral rage, growling like a wild animal. The instant before the cleaver fell down on Ferny like a guillotine, my brother's hand covered my face. I winced in blind pain as I heard Ferny's muffled groans, filled with anger and helplessness, become weaker and weaker with each hit. There was a loud bang, and then silence. After what felt like an eternity, the hand slid weakly of my face, and I saw my friend's body on top of the arcade where he was playing, both covered in red. I looked away in horror, feeling my stomach twist and revolt.

"Phew…" said the man, turning to face us. "He took more hits than I expected." Terrorized, I looked at him, trying to avoid looking at what remained of Ferny as much as I could. He held the now bloody cleaver and knife in front of him, admiring them for a moment. He then pointed the knife at me, and looking at me in the eyes, whispered "You're next in line, buddy."

* * *

With each step he took towards me, I felt my knees get weaker and weaker, until I fell on my hands and knees, sobbing.

"No… he's not." hissed my brother behind me. I turned my head to see him balling his fists, snarling at the approaching man. "I don't care what happens…" Sweat drenched his forehead as he took a step forward, his whole body quivering "I don't care what you do to me…" Groaning, panting, he stepped forward again, until he was by my side. "You can slice me open like a pig if you want…" With one final step, he was now right in front of me, facing me. Through my tears, I saw his open hand. I grabbed it pathetically, and pulling me up back on my feet, he tuned to face the man. "_But you're not touching my brother!_"

The man stood still. For one moment, something more than cold indifference seemed to come out of his masked face. He then resumed his walk, shaking his head.

"Very noble Sean, very noble." he said flatly. I didn't register the fact that he knew my brother's name. "But then again, the noblest people I know are also the most stupid." Once again, he looked at the knife and cleaver alternatively, as if deciding which one to use. He dropped the cleaver besides the man in golden clothes, still lying on the floor with his wrists open, still breathing. "And you my friend…" he chuckled lightly "are not the exception. I'll just kill you first then… no biggie."

He quickened his pace. When the masked man was a few feet away from us, my brother turned around. He looked at me for one second, and I still like to believe that he smiled that little smug smile of his. He pulled me close to him, and hugged me like I've never been hugged before. He wrapped his arms around my back and covered me entirely with his own body.

"It's okay Don." he whispered into my ear. "Just think about Dad." I buried my face in his chest, and cried.

The first stab. His body jolted, and he groaned in pain. The second stab. He let out a little cry and tightened his hug even more. The third stab. His breathing got heavier as I felt a tear fall on my head. The fourth stab. His arms went limp, and he let go of me as he collapsed into a bloody heap.

I let myself fall on my knees. He lay on his side, his back turned to me. My mouth opened and shut pathetically as I tried to scream, cry, speak… but I just lay there, sobbing silently as a red pool appeared under his body. I looked up at the blurry purple figure, just about making out something glowing in a soft, sinister red under his jacket, right besides his badge, around the place where the heart should be. Then I made out something coming at me with great speed from above.

The fifth stab. I looked down at the knife wedged between my ribs, feeling an icy pain spread throughout my body. As I fell on my back, my breathing got faster and shallower. My fingers went numb, my mouth filled up with the taste of blood. With my last bit of strength, I turned to see Jack still sitting silently by the closed door, still covering his face with his hands, as the tall purple figure walked towards him. After that, everything slowly became darker and darker. Before the lights went out completely, I still managed to hear the soft sound of rain coming from above.

"Angels are crying." I thought, before finally falling into a dark, cold void of silence.

I was dead.


	4. A rude awakening

**A/N:** So, remember that promise I made last week about short and concise chapters? Neither do I! No, seriously, the chapters will be in the 2250-2750 words range, roughly, but they will be more concise. By the way, thanks for the views, follows, favs, and comments so far! It really warms my heart.

Something important now: **from now on, new chapters will be uploaded each Sunday at 10 PM GMT. **If anyone has any _serious _reasons why this shouldn't happen, please let me know in the comments. But enough of that, enjoy your new chapter :)

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**Chapter 4: A rude awakening****  
**

The first thing I felt was the cold, hard floor I was lying on. "Great," I thought, "rolled of the bed again." Far off in the distance I heard some traffic, and the faint chirping of birds. Still not opening my eyes, I tried to make sense of the flood of images that came upon me. "Hmm…" I growled in my mind, "What a nightmare." It was then that I opened my eyes lazily, and saw that there was a pool of dried blood under me.

I looked around the small, dark room I had never seen; panic slowly taking over. For one moment, I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself down. Then I realized, that I _couldn't_ breathe. Now completely taken over by panic, I tried to stand up, but my body just wouldn't coordinate. I fell down sideways on top of one arm, the other one stretched out behind me.

My body…

Every little piece of me felt clunky and rigid. I tried to breathe a few more times, feeling how my mouth opened and closed robotically. Nothing. After a few moments, my panic turned into a weird curiosity. Deciding to ignore that I hadn't breathed in three minutes, I began to move my free arm behind me. It jerked violently on the floor as I tried to bring it over myself. "Alright Brandon," I thought, "easy does it…" With sudden dexterity, I laid an arm in front of my face. A cold, metallic purple arm and its four-fingered hand that I knew very well.

"No…" I whispered in disbelieve. I could hear my words in my head, but there wasn't any real sound coming out of my mouth.

I had drawn this arm, taken pictures with it, and once got grounded by Mom because I tugged at it.

"It's… no…" I said flatly, shaking my heavy head, feeling how things inside me twisted and turned with a soft screeching noise. "It can't be."

Horrified, I saw how the blood-stained arm obeyed every single command I gave it. But it wasn't my arm.

"_NO!_" I shrieked without making a sound, covering my eyes with Bonnie's arm.

* * *

"Guys, I think he woke up!" I pulled the arm away from my face at the sound of my brother's voice in my head, and looked up to the room's only door, somehow knowing that it came from there. "Don, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

With a hydraulic whir, my bunny ears popped up in excitement. "He's alright." I thought, warm relief flooding my cold body. With a little push of 'my' arms I was sitting against the wall. I looked how the doorknob turned and rattled, followed by a flood of white light as the door opened. "I'm here brother!" I said cheerfully, "Glad to see y-"

Instead of Sean, I was greeted by the dark silhouette of Freddy. Lines of dried blood spotted his whole body and drooped out of his mouth, eyes and joints. His eternal grin was stained red, and his blue eyes seemed to glow as he took some steps towards me. Terrified, I crawled backwards, away from the monster in bow tie and top hat that was gaining on me.

"Don, wait!" I heard my brother's voice call out in my head, as Freddy's jaw moved up and down. "Just hear me out!"

"I-It's a dream, j-just a bad, messed up dream…" I whispered in panic as my back hit the corner of the room. "A _really_ bad, _really _messed up dream..."

The animatronic bear stood still for a moment, a few feet in front of me. "It is Don, I'm sure it is…" My cloudy mind finally registered that my brother's voice was coming out of Freddy's body, but I couldn't hear it outside my own head. I pulled my knees close to my chest as the terrifying figure took another step towards me. "But until we wake up, I need you to calm down, and focus." The figure stretched out his arm to me.

"No! No!" I screamed, seeing how the dark arm got closer and closer. "Go away!" I curled myself up in a corner, and hiding my face between my arms, whimpered softly. I didn't know what to expect from the blood covered animatronic, but it sure wasn't the reassuring pat on my shoulder that I got.

Quivering in fear, I raised my head along with my ears. "Don, it's okay." whispered my brother's voice, as Freddy tilted his head friendly. "I'm here Don, I'm right here. Just look at me in the eyes; can you see me?"

Still afraid, I looked into Freddy's glowing eyes. But there was more than just light coming out of them. The animatronics' eyes were always… empty, and lifeless. Now, staring into the glowing blue orbs, I saw happiness, worry, relief, and the whole spectra of human emotion. But above all; I saw love.

I saw my brother.

"Sean…" I whispered. With rigid mechanical movements the animatronic stood tall and straight, and saluted me.

"Took you a while private!" said my brother playfully, dropping the salute and holding out his hand in front of me. I grabbed it eagerly, feeling my fingers close around his as he pulled me up to my feet, holding me by my armpit.

"Small steps Don, just take your time." I threw my arm around his unfamiliar shoulder, taking a few steps along with him. With each movement, I felt little things all over my body twist, pull, and spin. Somehow, it felt natural. In fact, after a few minutes of aided walking, I was feeling quite at ease in my new body.

"Okay Don, I'm gonna let you go, you ready?" I nodded with confidence, when my eyes suddenly spotted something looking at me from across the room. The moment my brother pulled away his hands I lost my balance. Stumbling and flailing, I ended up hitting the wall quite hard; but I didn't fall down. I was leaning against it, cringing, paralyzed by fear.

"Don! Are you alright?!" called out my worried brother as he rushed to me, his bear ears popping up in alarm. He grabbed me by my shoulders, his eyes reflecting his concern. "What happened? You were doing great."

But I couldn't look at him. All I could look at was the pale face with rosy cheeks and purple tear lines behind him, laughing a mischievous hollow laugh.

"P-P-P-P…" I stammered, pointing a trembling finger at the horror.

"Yes?" sighed Sean patiently.

"P-P-Puppet!"

* * *

Unfazed by my reaction, my brother turned around to look at the white head with noodle-like arms and neck popping out of a wooden box in the far corner of the room. Then, he laughed. A lot.

"Ha ha ha! Oh… oh… I'm sorry…" he wheezed, putting his hand on his bear belly. "It's just… hehe… your reaction…" He bent over under the onslaught of another wave of loud laughs. "Ha ha! Just fantastic!"

I stood baffled in my corner, looking at how my brother, still laughing, walked over to the box with the inert figure. "B-Be careful brother," I hushed.

My brother grabbed one of the long, limp arms stretching out of the box. He pulled it up, and looked at the needle like fingers for a few moments. He shook his head.

"Really Don, _really_?" he said smugly. "You do know it's just a prop, right? It's not even an animatronic; just a bunch of fabric with a clown mask on top." He looked down at the pale face. "I'm actually quite surprise you remember this guy."

"What do you mean?" I pushed myself off the wall, standing on my own two rabbit feet for the first time.

"Don't you remember? You were four, I was eight…" Sean slowly laid down the arm inside the box. "So, this thing used to be a part of the show, and for some reason, you were _terrified _of it. And apparently you still are." He chuckled a bit.

"C'mon man, it's not funny." I said, trying to sound more offended than I was.

"Wait, it does get funny." He took a few steps towards me. "The only thing the puppet did in the show was rise from a present box; I think they pulled him up with strings. So Dad was with us, and out comes this thing. You start screaming, and as soon as its whole body is up, you throw Dad's slice of pizza right at it, from all the way in the back."

My brother did a little arc with his hand, whistling. "And the slice hits it right in the face, and actually sticks to the mask! Long story short: we get kicked out, some kids start clapping, Mom is furious, and Dad is laughing his head off, saying that his four year old son in a better shot than him: a war vet and current cop. I think they scrapped the puppet from the show shortly after that."

My brother walked up to me, and tapped my shoulder. "Anyways, Ferny and Sarah are waiting. They woke up before us, and have some things to tell you."

My ears popped up at the names of my friends. "They're here as well?"

Sean nodded, his bloody grin and blue eyes meeting me as he exited the room. "Yup, and you can imagine what they look like."

As he walked down the hall, I threw a last glance at the white mask popping out of the box, and shivered. Stepping out of the gloomy room, I took a good look at my body. The cartoonish hands, the whirring joints, the purple exoskeleton drenched in blood.

"What a weird nightmare." I muttered, following Freddy's figure to an open door.

* * *

"So, he has done nothing since he woke up," explained Ferny to my brother, pointing his hook at the slumped down golden figure of Bucky, "but trace and retrace a circle on the floor. He hasn't talked or moved. We tried to speak to him, but it's like he's not here at all."

I looked around the little break room of the pizzeria. Sarah was sitting on a table, looking at her orange chicken feet stained with blood as she swung them. My brother and Ferny were arguing by the door, raising their hands and tilting their heads. I looked at the miserable figure of Jack, balling my fists in anger and guilt. I promised to keep him safe, to make sure nothing would happen to him, to make him smile. If I hadn't been so stupid and stubborn three days ago, he would be together with his brother right now.

"I still don't understand how we talk to each other." said my brother, "I can hear you, and you can hear me, but I don't feel like we're making any sounds."

"Actually, we are." answered Ferny quickly, his yellow eyes darting up to meet my brother's. "Before you woke up, Sarah and I decided to test this with the karaoke machine. While we were recording, we heard our voices loud and clear in our heads, our mouths mechanically moving along. But when we played it back, all we could hear were painful moans and groans; that's the sound we make when we speak, only we can't hear it ourselves."

Sarah pushed herself of the table, and walked around for a moment.

"But others can't hear what we're actually saying, can they?" resumed my brother.

"No, and we can't read each other's minds; we can only hear what others want us to hear." Ferny stood quiet for a moment. "For example, I just thought about something, but you didn't notice, did you?"

My brother crossed his arms, his eyes shining sternly. "Alright, what did you call me?"

Ferny's eyes shone mockingly "Oh, just an idiot." he said innocently.

"Guys, I'm gonna watch some TV." interrupted Sarah, "Wanna come?"

"Later." grumbled my brother. "Also, do you have any idea why we're covered in blood…" he tilted his head defiantly "… you little nerd?"

"Aww, thanks man!" said Ferny, putting his hook on his chest, and faking a sniff. "But I don't think there's a reason. I mean, this is just a nightmare! We're supposed to be afraid and what not."

"Except that we're not." I thought to myself, as my bunny ears drooped down smartly.

Something that was bugging me was how calm and logical everyone was being, including me. Supposedly, we were murdered three days ago, and now we possess our beloved, blood-bathed animatronics. Even if this was just a dream, we should be horrified, afraid, incapable of thinking, let alone make jokes like we've done. Sure, I _was _terrified the first few minutes, and that was it.

"Umm, guys, I think you should come." called out Sarah from across the room, but we shushed her up with some low mumbles.

Actually… no. Seeing the puppet terrified me. So I wasn't incapable of feeling fear, I was just incapable of feeling fear because of my current state, as was everybody else. Something was blocking this fear. I immediately thought of the way our murderer blocked our bodies, and the faint red light that came from his chest before he killed me. Could he do the same with our minds?

"Seriously guys, stop it and get over here." interrupted an irritated Sarah. But we shushed her up again with some gestures and more mumbling.

No; that doesn't make sense. Blocking our fear was _helping _us. If there was someone doing this, he was trying to make us feel better, safer, more comfortable in our situation. He was fighting against our murderer.

"WE'RE ON THE FREAKING NEWS!" shouted Sarah, pointing a yellow finger at the TV screen. We turned around, and saw five black and white pictures of us, the real us, on the screen. A reporter then began telling the world about the five missing children presumably murdered at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, and their killer, now in custody along with his accomplice: Jeremy Fitzgerald.

* * *

**A/N: **Now Brandon, our narrator, will keep referring to his friends by their human names. So just in case it wasn't clear for anyone:

Brandon/Don = Bonnie; Sean = Freddy; Ferny = Foxy; Sarah = Chica; Jack = Golden Freddy/Bucky.

Okay guys, see you next week Sunday, at 10 PM GMT. Also, don't be afraid to hit that Follow/Fav button if you want to know what happens next. Take care, be good, and eat your vegetables. See ya!


	5. Child's play

**A/N: **Hey guys, it's been a while, but I think and hope Sunday works better for all of us. We're all home, not going outside, yet procrastinating like it's Friday. Fantastic huh?

Before starting, I wanted to thank all of you who are reading this story and have followed, faved, and commented so far; yes, again. But I also wanted to thank guest reviewer Libra904 for the Happy Easter wish. Thanks Libra, and a _very late _Happy Easter for you and everyone else who's reading. I'm terrible with holidays guys, forgive me for forgetting to do that last week.

Also, there's a little surprise waiting for you in the A/N at the end of this chapter. Don't panic; it's a good surprise!

Finally don't be afraid to leave suggestions or criticisms below. They're all very appreciated. Without further delay (and you had a lot today!) here is chapter 5. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Child's play**

Staring blankly at the camera, a woman standing outside the pizzeria circled with yellow 'Do not cross' tape started reporting our story.

"It's been three days since five children disappeared at this Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in Fort Worth, Texas. Although the children are reported as missing, the large amount of blood found at the scene leaves few hopes for the heartbroken families, as investigators are using terms such as 'murder' and 'bodies'."

"11 year old Sean Williams and his brother Brandon, who was celebrating his 8th birthday, were presumably murdered by an employee dressed as a mascot of the franchise, a golden bear named Bucky. Their friends Fernando Mendez and Sarah O'Patrick, both nine, suffered the same fate."

"A fifth child, 7 year old Jack Schmidt, who had moderate autism, was presumably murdered under the same circumstances." As his picture appeared on the screen, I turned around to look at Jack, but he was still tracing circles on the floor like nothing happened.

"According to witnesses, the man in the golden animatronic suit lured the five children into a recently built private party room where there was no one else and no security cameras. Video surveillance from the rest of the pizzeria shows that all other employees and security guards were in their designated areas."

"When he was found, the presumed murderer had deep wounds on his wrists and was wearing a golden outfit to match his costume. Authorities argue that the man cut himself in an attempt to end his own life after he had committed the hideous act. He is currently in a critical state and hasn't been able to answer any questions; he's not expected to survive."

"However, another employee has been detained. It is suspected that 23 year old Jeremy Fitzgerald aided the killer by giving the five children free tickets for the private party, thus giving the murderer a chance to kill them without having to worry about witnesses. Mr. Fitzgerald said that he has very fuzzy memories of that day, that he would never do anything to hurt his cousins, and that an uncle of the Williams paid for the party. And yet there is no record of this payment. Back to you Scott."

A reporter from the main studio appeared to replace the woman. "Thank you Vanessa. And this story just keeps getting more tragic; the missing brothers lost their father Benjamin Williams, a Vietnam veteran and police officer, three years ago during a shootout with a criminal gang lead by the infamous Alfonse Yoska. During the shootout, Mr. Williams killed Mr. Yoska. As Mr. Williams was calling for backup, he was shot down by another member of the gang, whose identity is still a mystery. Now all that remains of the once happy family is the devastated mother and widow Clara Williams."

"Finally, Jack's older brother, 13 year old Michael Schmidt, gave this intriguing speech when asked about the identity of his brother's murderer." Some footage of a young teen being chased by reporters and dragged along by his mother appeared on screen, tears streaming from his blue eyes as he faced the camera.

"I-I know the man who wore that B-Bucky suit that d-day…" he sobbed, pausing to wipe his face, "H-He once stayed a-alone with us after hours until our parents c-came to pick us up, and I'm still _here._" He clenched his fists, his face going from pure sadness to pure anger. "He did _not _kill my brother, you h-hear me!"

"Mike…" whimpered his mother as he tugged at him. "Please…"

"NO!" Mike snarled at her, "I don't k-know who did this, but I know who didn't, and I _k-know _that I _will _find the man that killed Jack!"

Mike's angry tone suddenly broke down into a soft cry as he covered his face. "I-I have to…" he sobbed helplessly, "I should've been there with him… I…"

With a last tug, the now crying mother dragged her son away from the microphones and cameras.

* * *

"Brother?" the four of us turned around, baffled to see Jack standing on his two golden feet without any help, staring blankly at the TV. "I'm right here…"

I felt a knot in my throat as I walked to Jack, head and ears down. "Jack…" I whispered, "He's not here. He can't h-"

Jack's huge golden fist connected with my jaw, my gears cringing as I stumbled backwards. This hurt a lot for a dream.

"You _promised_!" As Jack started walking towards me, my brother and Sarah rushed to him and grabbed his arms; Ferny came running by my side. "You promised to keep me safe, you promised that nothing bad would happen!"

With a painful crack, I fixed my jaw back into place. I wanted to say something back, but Jack was right; I failed him. Sarah and Sean were groaning painfully as they tried to hold him back. I looked up at the golden figure, trying to spot the smallest hint of forgiveness in his eyes. But all I saw was black.

"I could've just waited Mike out…" Jack suddenly whispered with a terrifying calm as he relaxed his body. "But you… you put me in that room… you…"

"I'M SORRY, OKAY!" I shouted, trying to hide away my guilt with anger, "I'M FREAKING SORRY!"

"You killed me…" he whispered. As these words echoed in my head, I fell down to my knees.

"Woah, woah, woah… hold on guys." called out a sixth voice from the back of the room. When I realized who this voice belonged to, I almost fainted.

"Don't steal my credit like that Bonnie!" continued to voice nonchalantly, "Bucky, don't you remember? Brandon didn't kill Jack; I did!"

We all turned around at the same time. There he was, sitting on chair by the door, a little red book in hard cover resting on his crossed legs. He was still wearing the purple security guard uniform, but he was playing with the ski mask in his hand, letting us see his grinning face and unruly hair for the first time.

"Hi folks!" he said cheerfully as he waved at us, smiling. "You're all looking really handsome! A bit… dirty… but it'll rub off." He let out an eerie chuckle.

None of us were moving; we just stood there, watching him in awe. Our killer let out a little sigh as he stood up, laying the book neatly on his chair. He was an adult, but he still looked like a kid trying to act like a grown up.

"What?" he said flatly, shrugging. "You guys don't recognize me?" he started to walk calmly to us. "Look, I'm sorry for just popping out of nowhere, but I wanted to get here as soon as you woke up, you see? I understand that you're all a bit confused, and…"

"Ferny," whispered my brother, "he can't hear us talk can he?"

"What… umm…" answered Ferny, as if just waking up from a trance. "N-No. He can't"

"Okay, good." Sean kept whispering even after hearing this. "Sarah, Don, you there?"

"Yes." whispered Sarah firmly. I tried to answer, but seeing my killer walk towards me again was too much for me to handle.

"Don, c'mon…" hissed my brother as he gave my foot a subtle kick from behind. "Get into it!" But I was definitely out of it.

"Alright…" he sighed. "We're three, he's one. I don't care if this is real or not…" I heard the hydraulic wheezing of his clenching fists as his voice suddenly filled up with rage. "But I know I _really _want to break his smile."

"Okay… he's close…" whispered Ferny, "I'm closer to him, I'll tackle him, and you hold him down."

"Sounds good." my brother said with cruel enthusiasm. "By the three guys…"

"One…"

Ferny and Sarah bent their knees in front of me, ready for the sprint. Our killer raised his eyebrows.

"Two…"

Sarah clenched her yellow fists as Ferny flashed his hook. With a few calm steps, my brother was in front of me and by their side.

"You do realize…" interrupted our killer.

"THREE!"

The heavy bodies of my three friends collapsed to the floor with an ear shattering sound. Baffled and afraid, I saw how our killer cried of laughter, a soft red glow coming from his chest.

* * *

"Ha! Oh… oh… that was good." He wiped away his last tear as he looked at the cringing bodies. "As I was saying, you do realize that I can hear _everything _you guys say?"

Growling, Ferny raised his canine head to the man in purple. "How…" he wheezed. "We can't speak out loud. Only the five of us can talk to each other."

Shaking his head, the man crouched over Ferny. "My dear Foxy," he cooed, patting Ferny's muzzle, "I am one of you. Well, not like _this._" He gave a knock to Ferny's metallic chest. "It's… well you don't need to know." He got up, brushing his knees.

"But don't be sad," he continued, "you were right on something. Only we can talk with each other. Now, where was I…" he idly walked around the room, the red glow fading away as my friends slowly stood up. "Oh yeah, the rules."

"What rules…" groaned my brother as he steadied himself, leaning on my shoulder.

Our killer sighed disappointingly. "Honestly, were you even listening at all?" He stood in the middle of the room, looking like an angry teacher. "What I was explaining, before Freddy over here decided to go all Rambo on me, was that I want to play a game with you, a very simple game. Or rather, I want you to play a game for me, while I enjoy the show. But obviously, we need to establish the rules for said game first."

The man waited until we all stood on our feet, and clearing his throat, he began speaking again.

"Rule number one: The pizzeria is your playground. You can play all around the building, but if any of you exits, the game will end."

"Rule number two: You cannot touch or attack any animatronics, or any part of an animatronic, other than yourselves. So the five of you can punch each other to death if you want, but touch an empty head or endoskeleton, and it's game over; except when you're trying to accomplish your goal that I'll explain later."

"Rule number three: Being the spectator, you are not allowed to interact with me in any way unless I start the interaction. So, you can't ask me questions, talk to me, or touch me, unless I do it first.

"Rule number four: Besides being the spectator, I am also the referee. So I can end the game whenever I want, without any warning. And off course, you must do as I say, always."

"Failure to comply with the rules may result in either a warning, like the one you just had, or a game over. That's basically it."

My brother looked at the man defiantly, his eyes glowing with hate. "And the game is…"

"Your existence." said the man flatly.

"You forgot to tell us the goal of the game, idiot." said Sarah.

"Chica, sweetheart, I was just getting to that." said the man with a careless gesture. "You'll find it very simple, and soon, very fun." A perverse grin appeared on his face. "From 12 AM to 6 AM, you will do your best to kill the security guard on office, stuffing him in a spare animatronic suit. See? Simple!"

* * *

"And if we say no?" barked my brother as he stepped forward towards the man. Sarah, Ferny and I followed suit.

The man giggled. "Fellas, I don't think you understand your situation." He looked at us sternly, all humor and friendliness gone. "I _own _you. You are my pets, my toys, my playmates… my very own Fazbear Gang!"

He smiled maniacally after saying this, sending shivers down my spine.

"Now, now…" he continued, "That doesn't mean we can't all be friends, right! We may have started off on the wrong foot here, but over time you will find out that you are more like me than you think. Once your hands are covered in blood and you see the delicious joy of giving yourself up to what you really are, what all of us really are, we will all joke about this moment. It's gonna be _so _fun!"

We threw disgusted glances at the smiling man, and looked at each other, as if asking ourselves 'What now?'. It was then that we all remembered something.

"Yeah yeah, babble all you want stupid." mocked Sarah, putting her hands on her hips. "It's been quite a dream, and I'm pretty sure it's almost morning." We laughed at how well she said what we were thinking. "I'll wake up, take a shower, eat some pancakes, and forget all about you."

The man raised his eyebrows, and tapping his foot, shook his head. "Chica, Chica, Chica… what am I gonna do with you?"

"It's Sarah doofus." hissed Sarah angrily.

"Sweetheart…" whispered the man sweetly, "Sarah is dead and rotting. I clearly remember sticking a kitchen knife between her ribs. But thanks for showing me your confusion, I see now that you're all having a bit of an identity crisis."

Sarah laughed back at this. "Oh, sure! I'm Chica!" she said with a squeaky voice. "Hey kids! Let's Eat!"

We all laughed at the way the man sighed painfully. But our joy was cut short.

"ALRIGHT!" shouted the man with sudden rage, stomping towards Sarah. "WANT ME TO SHOW YOU WHERE SARAH IS?!"

"Sarah, get here!" called out Ferny. I tried to sprint to her and drag her to where we were standing, but once again something wouldn't let me move my feet. We could only look helplessly as the man turned Chica's rigid body to face us.

"DID YOU EVEN STOP TO THINK WHOSE BLOOD YOU'RE COVERED WITH?!" hollered out the raging man, before he suddenly went quiet, and smiled. "You know what?" he whispered. "That's okay. I can't wait to see your reaction to _this!_"

The man took a hold of the frontal plate of Chica's exoskeleton that covered everything between her neck and her waist. Then, with a single violent tug, he opened her torso, letting us see her wires, circuits, endoskeleton, and…

"Sarah…" I whispered in horror. She was there, her golden hair now a sick yellow, her gray face covered in blood seemed to stare directly at me. If I had a stomach, I would've thrown up. The man bent over, laughing his sickening laughter while pointing at us. With a new sense of horror, I looked at my own blood-drenched body. At that moment, we all realized what was inside of us. And we all realized, that if this was a nightmare, it was only beginning.

* * *

**A/N: **Yup. Only beginning. So... Who's pumped for a story that will be much longer than originally planned, huh?! *Cricket noises*

*Sigh* Remember guys. Chapter 6. Next week Sunday 10 PM GMT. Woo hoo.

Now, for that surprise I mentioned. Next week, besides getting your new chapter, you will also _finally _get the book cover drawing I talked about at the introduction. Lucky you, huh? So don't be scared if you don't see the story's current logo.

The drawing is just a simple pencil sketch of Bonnie and Brandon (tough he looks way older than the 8 year old he is) sitting back to back on a plain. Nothing special, but hey, I do know how to keep my promises. Unlike Brandon. What? Too soon?


	6. The red book

**A/N: **Hey guys, I hope you had a great week! If not, hopefully this chapter will give you the motivation to keep you going through this crazy roller coaster called life. In other news; we have a cover! Yes, it's a uncolored pale sketch made in 30 minutes, but it's something isn't it? And thanks for your comments and support this past week, I know I say this every chapter, but I truly mean it. Finally remember: Sunday, 10 PM GMT is the time, and here is the place.

Now, here is chapter 6!

* * *

**Chapter 6: The red book**

"Suddenly feels a little bit too real for a dream, doesn't it!" shouted out the man mockingly. "By the way," he added as he waved his hand in front of his nose, "you might want to take a shower."

I covered my eyes with my hands, quivering with disgust as I sat down on the floor. "This… this can't be true." I whispered, feeling a gut-wrenching sickness in my hollow belly.

"Oh, but it _is _true my dear Bonnie!" the voice of the man was shaking with triumph. "Wonderful, isn't it?"

"You…" whispered my brother, "You killed us. You really did."

"I don't understand what you mean Freddy." answered the man sweetly. "Yes, I killed five kids, including Sean Williams. But you're not _him_. You're Freddy Fazbear! I killed those brats to give you, all of you, life!" My brother growled, clenching his fists. The man raised his eyebrows nonchalantly and let out a sigh. "It might take a while to sink in."

I looked up at Sarah as she closed the frontal plate of her torso, letting out a little chuckle. "You really are something, aren't you?" she said while looking at her killer in the eyes.

"What do you mean?" said the man as he turned to face her.

"The worst nightmare of a killer is seeing that its victims came back to life." she said matter-of-factly "And now, you're threatening to kill us if we break your silly rules. How are you going to do that if we are already dead, yet alive enough to run down to the police station?"

The man smirked at her. "There are things worse than death sweetheart. I never threatened your life, I threatened your existence."

Sarah crossed her arms defiantly. "My existence? You're saying that there is an afterlife and all that?"

The man shrugged. "All I'm saying is that the soul lives on after the body is long gone, somehow, somewhere. But to live in this world, you need three things: a body, a mind, and a soul." The man walked around the room meditatively, holding his chin. "Right now, the five of you are 'complete'; you're in your own bodies with someone else's soul and minds, minor inconvenience, but you'll forget about that once you try to accomplish your goal."

I looked up at the man, feeling that my time for being a coward was over. "Like we would kill for a scumbag like you!" I cried out.

The man looked down at me like a teacher looks at a stubborn student. "We'll see about that Bonnie."

I let out a challenging snort, and looking around, felt the same unsettling calm I felt before the newscast; why were we being so submissive? This is _real _dammit! We should be crying, screaming, raging… but no. Our emotions were being kept suspiciously stable. I looked around to see Ferny and my brother looking angrily but attentively at the man; Jack only stared at him blankly.

"Anyways," continued the man. "It's true that I can't 'kill' you, nobody can, but I can do something worse." Another perverse smile crawled up his face. "I can _erase _you. All of you; gone. No soul to live on, no memories to think about… just oblivion."

Taking big steps, he went to the back of the room, and picked up the red book from his chair. "Ladies and gentleman," he called out, "this is your existence. And as you can see, it's in my hands." He tapped the front cover of the book. On it there was a symbol that looked like it was drawn with a finger soaked in red ink. It was an inverted pentagram inscribed in a circle; the circle itself was inscribed in a symmetric triangle.

"Body." said the man, tapping the bottom left corner of the triangle. "Mind." He tapped the bottom right corner. "And soul." He tapped the top. "On some of these pages, there are symbols, or seals, like this one. Each one has its own special character besides the main seal, and was drawn with the blood of the corpse inside of you. And each one belongs to one of you. The seals are the only things keeping your souls intact. If I break them, your souls will be obliterated, and _nothing _will remain of you." He paused, letting his words sink in on us.

"There is a lot more to it, but I won't fill up your heads. And for your own sake," his voice dropped to a low and stern tune, "don't try to figure it all out. It won't do you any good." He changed back to his usual sickeningly nonchalant tone. "Just enjoy your game! And don't forget this; I am the owner of your existence, and I'm the only one that can end it." He smiled cheerily at us before turning around and walking towards the door.

I growled as I felt a fresh wave of rage come over me. Pushing myself up, I walked towards him with balled fists. "Don't you dare walk away from us like that!" I stopped when I was a few feet in front of him; the man slowly turned around to face me.

"Who the hell are you!?" I snarled. "Why us?! What did we ever do to you!? You turned us into animatronics, you sliced some poor guy's wrists and you make Jeremy take the blame!"

I raised my trembling purple finger to his indifferent face. "If you think we will let you tell us what to do, if you think we will play your sick game of killing innocents, then y- AAARGH!"

I fell down to the floor, grinding my teeth in pain. It was like an ax suddenly hacked my two legs off. Quivering and panting, I looked up at the tall purple figure towering over me.

"Rule number three; did you forget already Bonnie?" asked the man while leaning over me, once again with a soft red glow coming from his chest. "I begin the conversation, you follow. _Never _the other way around."

Pushing up my torso with my hands, I looked at the smiling man. "Listen… you." I wheezed. "We will find a way to make you pay for this. We will reach out to someone, someone that will listen to us, someone that will see us, help us!"

The man laughed sarcastically. "Please! You can't even speak out loud, you're covered in blood, there's a kid's corpse inside of you, and your _stench_!" He leaned closer. "You're not human; their world doesn't belong to you. Get close to someone, wave a white flag if you'd like, but all you will ever get out of it are screams, shut doors, run offs, and maybe a useless bullet. And you know why no one will ever help you?"

The man leaned so close to me I could see the veins in his bloodshot eyes. "Fear makes men blind. It's that simple." He got up, letting out a little sigh. "You have one, maybe two weeks before they open the pizzeria again. Then, we can begin playing." Standing on the doorway, he looked back at us one last time.

"I can't wait to see who scores first!" he called out enthusiastically as he closed the door, his footsteps fading away into silence.

* * *

I leaned on my brother's shoulders as I slowly regained some strength in my legs. "I'm sorry we couldn't help you out," he said, "we were just…" his voice trailed off.

"Paralyzed, right?" I asked. My brother nodded at these words. "How can he do that?" I resumed. "We just lose all control over our… _these_ bodies."

I looked at Sarah and Ferny standing silently by the big window of the room, their arms crossed while their eyes reflected sadness and helplessness, but also anger. Somehow I realized immediately that they were thinking about their families. In the middle of the room, the late afternoon sun giving his body an intense golden glow, Jack was sitting silently, again tracing circles on the floor. But he did it slowly and painfully as sorrow oozed out of his black eyes. I looked at my own hands, and at the new face of my brother, as my long ears dropped down.

"This is it?" I asked to no one. "We just… stay here, rotting, being miserable?" I tried to ball a fist, but suddenly I lost all will to even do that. "We can't eat, we can't ask for help, we can't go outside." I couldn't hold back my emotions anymore and started to sob, looking up at my brother. "W-What about mom? She's a-alone now, crying o-over some old p-picture of us. "

I leaned against my brother's big brown body, suddenly too weak to stand on my own. "And D-Dad… he's g-gonna be so a-alone. Who will p-put fresh f-flowers now?"

My brother looked down at me, tilting his head emphatically. "Don't worry Don," he whispered, "Mom will."

I shook my head. "It's not the same!" Pushing myself away from him I looked at my own purple body again, thinking about what our murderer said. "We can't even kill ourselves, can we?"

"Don." hissed my brother sternly. "Don't talk like that."

"Why?" I huffed, half laughing, half crying. "Because it's true that only our killer can erase us, and he'll do it if we just go outside?" I looked tentatively at the large window, taking a few lazy steps towards it. I could break through it and climb out, breaking the rules and ending my game.

"Being nothing." I whispered decidedly. "Being nothing is better than being this."

"Don't even think about it." warned my brother as I took another step. "Don… stop it."

"IT'S MY CHOICE!" I wailed out as I bent my knees to run. But before I could take the first step my brother grabbed me by my arm and pinned my stunned body against the wall.

"I NEED YOU!" he hollered in my face as his gaze paralyzed me. We remained there for a moment, none of us talking or moving. His blue eyes glowed with such strength that I could barely look at them. "I need you with me brother," he whispered with a broken voice, "I need you by my side, now more than ever. We've lost a lot; we can't lose each other as well." His eyes once again went up to mine, their light filled with a special kind of pleading. "So don't you dare to leave me, no; leave _us_ alone." he begged.

Holding back my crying, I nodded. "I'm sorry." I whimpered. "It's just… I'm sorry."

My brother patted my shoulder. "It'll be okay."

He cleared his throat and turned around to face the shocked Ferny and Sarah, and pointed a big round finger at them. "Ferny, you're the greatest wiseass I know!" he called out in a military tone. "You're three years younger than me and you helped me understand algebra!"

"Sarah, you're always there by our side to cheer us up. You've made me smile every day for the past five years with your stupid jokes! I need you two as well dammit! Now get your asses over here!"

With a sudden spark of joy in their eyes the duo speed walked towards us. When they were by our side my brother pulled them in close until we formed a tight circle.

"Listen to me," continued Sean, "and listen to me good. We have two options. We either give up and live the rest of our lives miserably, which is what the bastard that did this to us probably wants…"

"Or we resist. We can't fight back and we don't have a voice. But as long as we're together, as long as we remain hopeful and as long as we don't let him be our owner, we win. We lost everything, but we still have our greatest treasure: life, be as it is. As long as there is life, there is hope.

My brother stretched out his arm and opened his big brown hand. Ferny put his hook on top, and Sarah topped it with her yellow wing-hand. Staring at my friends, I realized that there were still three things in this world worth living for.

"And no matter what happens," resumed my brother, "we will never, ever let… _this _change who we are, and what we are to each other. Don," he said enthusiastically, "call it out."

Sighing, sobbing and, as much as I could, smiling, I put my hand on top of Sarah's. "THREE! TWO! ONE!" I called out with newfound energy, "FRIENDS till the…"

My eyes slid over to Jack's sad figure in the middle of the room, looking at us with vacant eyes.

"…end." We threw our arms up together. Sean patted my shoulders as Sarah and Ferny did a little clap.

"Alright guys!" said Ferny. "I think we should take a look around the place for a while, maybe try to figure out where we want to sleep?"

"What about Jack?" I asked. Everyone turned to see me with surprise.

"Don't worry about him Brandon." said Sarah. "He'll come after us, right Jack?"

Jack looked away from her, and started tracing an X.

"You know what?" I said. "Go ahead; I'll wait the little guy out and keep an eye on him. When he decides to go after you I'll go with him."

"You sure?" asked my surprised brother. "I think he's old enough to…"

"There's a girl in my class," I interrupted roughly, "that has what he has. When she joined us, our teacher taught us about autism. He needs a bit of extra help."

"Alright Don." sighed my brother, holding the door open as Ferny and Sarah left the room. "We're gonna snoop around; just don't take too long."

"Don't worry!" I chirped, adding a careless hand gesture. "This won't take five minutes!"

As he left the room, I could only think about what my brother said, and the way he said it. Leaning against the wall, looking at Jack, I let out a little chuckle.

"Sean…" I whispered. "When did you become Dad?"


	7. Friendly hands

**A/N: **Good morning/afternoon/evening/night/eclipse; depending on where you are and when you're reading this. Anyways; good time period!

Thanks for all the support on the last chapter, I'm happy to see that you guys are actually enjoying this! And to answer a couple of questions I got: I will do my best to post every single new chapter each Sunday, at 10 PM GMT. That's the appointed time. So no matter where you live you can expect to have a new chapter of _The ones that were lost _each Monday. If I know before hand that I won't be able to comply, I'll _try _to let you know in an A/N.

Before you read this chap: we're currently in the pizzeria that came after the family dinner but before the setting of FNaF 2. I'm saying this because the way I describe the restaurant might confuse you if you thought we're in the place of the second game.

Also, I discovered two great fanfics a few days ago that you should check out if you like my story and stories that focus on the missing kids in general. They are _Missing _by TheGreatHetzer and the _Soul _series by Elhini Prime. Thumbs up to you two for your awesome stories!

Now, here is chapter 7. As always comments, criticisms and suggestions are very appreciated. And if you spot a typo, grammar error, messed up sentence, whatever... please PM right away so I can fix it ASAP. Thank you and happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Friendly hands**

An owl cooed in the distance, waking me up. I shook my head and looked around the dark room, my eyes finally resting on Jack who was still sitting on the floor tracing circles. I glanced at the clock radio besides the TV; it was 12:14 AM. Feeling my head and long ears droop again under the weight of sleep I pushed myself of the wall and stretched my arms, realizing how stiff I became as my eyes lit up again giving the room a weak pinkish hue. After a few cracks and groans I managed to wake myself up enough to think more or less clearly.

"Jack…" I yawned, "I think it's time for you to come with us. I'm sure the others found a more or less nice place to sleep."

Jack's head seemed to perk up slightly along with his stubby bear ears, only to fall again a second later.

"C'mon Jack." I insisted, walking over to where he was sitting until I was standing by his side. "Just come with us."

I looked down at him. He was now tracing an X instead of a circle. "I'm guessing that means no, right?" Jack nodded, and started to trace circles again.

"Can I sit down with you?" He answered this with an X.

"Listen," I said, trying not to sound too harsh. "I know what you have. A girl in our class also has autism, so they taught us about it. I know what you feel. Well, kinda."

Jack looked up at me with his blank, black eyes. Then he just dropped his gaze again.

"Remember what I said and promised to you before we went in that room?" He nodded.

"So do I, and it doesn't stop haunting me. 'When you promise something you must mean it Brandon!' Mom and Dad always said to me. And I meant what I said."

"When I said that I wanted to see you smile, I meant it. When I promised to keep you safe, I meant it. I still do!" I looked down, surprised to see that Jack stopped tracing circles and was looking at me attentively.

"I want to keep that promise. I want you to give me a second chance that I don't deserve. I want to be your friend, a-"

"No." Jack interrupted with a short whisper, "No, you don't. N-Nobody does." He let his head fall.

Still stunned by his sudden interruption I looked down at him. "Why do you say that?"

Jack let his head fall even further. "I was m-mean to you." His whisper was barely audible, "I hit you. I'm s-stupid."

I giggled back at this. "I almost did something _way _more stupid six hours ago, but thankfully my brother was there to stop me. We all do things we wish we hadn't from time to time. Doing stupid things doesn't make us stupid, it makes us human. Not learning from them does."

Jack shook his head stubbornly. "It's not t-that!" He turned around, so that his back was facing me. After a while, he started to tremble slightly; he was crying.

"Your f-friends don't want me." he whimpered softly, "I saw it. And I u-understand. I'm a w-weight on your b-backs." He covered his face with his hands as his body slumped down. "Just l-leave me alone. Please; it's the best thing for e-everyone."

"Alright, time for a new approach." I cleared my throat, and walked up in front of him. "Listen, Jack. I _know_ what I'm getting myself into. We will have trouble talking and working, you're short-tempered by nature, and every once in a while you will get on my nerves. I know that will happen." After hearing this, Jack let his body slump down even more.

"I also know," I continued, "that the very thing that makes you like that, makes you a special and gifted kid in ways we can't imagine. Maybe you haven't found that talent yet, but I know it's there, and I'm willing to help you find it." Jack lifted his head and at me and tilted it curiously, looking at me in the eyes.

"And I'm willing to carry you and all that you are, the good and the bad, and keep you safe for as long as you need to. I'd be happy to do that, and if you let me be your friend along the way, then you won't even be a weight at all. But to do that, you need to let me pick you up first."

I stretched my open hand in front of his face. He then lifted his golden hand, the same hand that almost broke my jaw, and slowly folded its fingers around mine. As he did, I looked into his black eyes. And like two stars in a dark night, two white shining pinpoint dots appeared in his eyes. The dots told me all I needed to know.

He was smiling.

I pulled him up, nearly breaking my endoskeleton in the process. After he stood on his two feet he turned around to look at the window. I went up to him and stood by his side. Dim yellow lights from streetlamps mixed with the pale moonlight, and blended with the sounds of passing cars. But we didn't think about that; our minds drifted away trying to find the ones that we lost.

"My brother, Mike." whispered Jack, "What w-will happen to him?"

I sighed. "I don't know. Maybe someday you two will meet again."

He turned his head quickly. "You think so?" he whispered, his voice and eyes filled with hope.

I let a few seconds pass, thinking about what to tell him. "Yes." I said firmly. "And until then, I will take care of you. I know I can't be your brother, but I will stay by your side, as your friend."

Jack looked down shyly as we walked to the door. "T-Thank you." he muttered as we stepped into the hallway.

"No problem!" I chuckled back, "Now let's find out where everyone is hiding."

It took us a while, but we managed to find Sean, Ferny and Sarah all sleeping on the floor in the backstage room. I was scared to see the light in their eyes gone, but the little movements of their hands and feet told me they were all fine. Tired, but no longer afraid, I laid myself down between my brother and Jack, and quickly fell asleep.

There were now four things in this world worth living for.

* * *

The next two and a half weeks before the reopening of Freddy Fazbear's were filled with discoveries, surprises, and a weird kind of enthusiasm. Even though we still woke up every morning hoping that it was all a dream we managed to keep ourselves busy enough to avoid getting too caught up in our own reality.

We had the whole place for us and decided to make the best out of it, being careful not to change too many things. But it soon became an unspoken rule to never go into the private party room, the room where we were murdered, again.

Sarah began to draw again, even though it was very difficult with her hands. But instead of drawing happy and smiling animatronics like she used too, she now drew happy and smiling kids. After a few attempts I managed to get Jack to draw as well, instead of just watching TV all day. Taken, he only drew circles and X's, but I still saw it as progress. Whilst sneaking around the manager's office Sean managed to find the key to the arcade's coin slots. Now we could use the same coins to play over and over again.

But we also kept an eye on the world outside through the TV. After a few days the so called 'murderer' died because of his wounds; our killer managed to silence the only witness we could've had. At the same time the case against Jeremy was crumbling. Not surprisingly none of our families pressed charges, knowing that our cousin wouldn't hurt a fly. Jeremy on his behalf helped out the police all he could by telling them what he remembered of that day. It was pretty much nothing.

It was during these newscasts that we talked about our killer. He had the security guard uniform, but we had never seen him before. Plus according to the news all surveillance cameras showed that the three guards were where they should be at the time we were killed: two outside and one in the security office. So who was our killer, how he knew our names, why he chose us, how he paralyzed our bodies while his chest glowed and the whole thing with our souls and seals in that book remained unanswered questions.

We agreed with one thing he said though: if someone found out what we really were they would either run way from us or try to kill us, and the terrifying noises we made when we talked between ourselves didn't help. Our best bet, we decided, was to act like animatronics as much as we could until we found a way to communicate with someone we could trust. We even cleaned up our bloody exoskeletons as much as possible with napkins and paper towels, but our corpses remained where they were.

Ferny, the eternal nerd, found and studied some manuals on how to operate and maintain the animatronics that were our new bodies. Sleeping and 'being off' were apparently pretty much the same thing for us. Our servos got a bit locked up after not moving for a few hours, so we always felt rigid and stiff when waking up. But after a bit of slow stretching they started to run smoothly again.

Also, each one of us had a cassette player hiding in our sides behind a little flap, except Jack since his body was really a semi-animatronic suit. The cassettes had the songs we would have to eventually play after the reopening. Our movements and dances during shows would be operated with a remote control. In between shows we would go in a free-roam mode to stop the servos from locking up, but we had to remain in the area of the building for employees only. After the restaurant closed at 8 PM however we were allowed to roam all around the place.

Finally everything in our bodies was battery powered, so we all had to plug ourselves in a power outlet with an extension cord for a few hours a day or night to avoid running out of energy. But this afternoon, the day before the reopening, my brother forgot to do that.

* * *

"Umm Don…" he called out behind me. We were both in the main arcade room after having played for six hours straight. The arcades were on the left side of the building, close to the main entrance, the security office, and ticket counter.

I shook my head while turning around to face him. "For the last time…" I said irritated, "Duck Hunt is not broken, you just suck at it."

"It's not that," he grunted, "well, it _is_ broken… but I need your help. My body won't… respond." continued Sean as his legs twitched uselessly, "And I feel… kinda sleepy."

"Did you plug yourself in last night?" I asked. My brother answered with a nervous little giggle.

"Seriously?" I said as I crossed my arms. "It's the _fourth_ time!"

"Good…" he half yawned, half groaned, "you know… the drill then. Get me… to the maintenance… room next… to the backstage… room. And… plug me in."

"I know, I know." I said impatiently as the blue glow of his eyes slowly started to fade away.

"Oh… and Don…" he added quickly as his body began to lean backwards. "Don't let… me fall."

"I'm sorry?" I asked sarcastically while lowering an ear and putting a hand by it, trying to hold back a giggle, "I didn't hear that."

"Don't you… dare… let… me… uh-oh."

His back and bottom hit the tiled floor with a loud metallic clang, covering up my evil chuckle. After I had enough I walked up to my brother's inert body; the glow of his eyes was gone. Dragging his body around the place would only break something, so we needed to lift it between the four of us. I walked out of the room into the main dining area wondering if Ferny and Sarah who were up on the show stage all the way in the front heard anything. As I walked up to them their conversation cleared away my doubts.

"Do I have to?" wined Ferny as he tapped his foot nervously, his red ears flat against his head.

"I don't understand the problem Fer!" nagged Sarah. "You go down the stage and sing piraty songs to some kids." Sarah pointed a piece of paper on a chair next to them. "It's your number in this week's show. Also we can't do anything to avoid it; we will be remote-controlled anyways."

"C'mon Sarah," insisted Ferny, "you know I'm not good with little kids!"

"Ferny," snorted Sarah, "you're nine, remember?"

"Well," replied Fer proudly, crossing his arms, "at least I'm mature and responsible."

Sarah exploded with laughter, bending over and taking a few steps backwards. "Ha ha! _Mature_? You once threw up after eating a cherry popsicle dunked in BBQ-sauce!"

"It was an experiment in the name of science!" he boasted as he stuck up his index finger.

"Um, guys…" I interrupted, looking up at the two figures on stage. "I kinda need your help for a moment."

"Hi Brandon," said Sarah with a bit of sternness, "I'm glad you remembered we exist."

"You guys really got carried away this time, didn't you?" added Ferny.

"Y-Yeah," I muttered as my ears drooped down awkwardly, "sorry about that. Anyways, Sean forgot to plug himself in, and…"

"Again?" interrupted Sarah.

"Again." I resumed. "We need Jack to lift him up. Fer, is he with you?"

"Well…" Ferny started tapping his foot nervously again. "He got bored, so I let him watch some TV."

"What? I thought we had a deal! You were supposed to play hide and seek with him today!"

"I tried!" Ferny raised his hand and hook, "You know how he is; the only one he ever plays with is you."

He was right. I was the only one Jack seemed to care about. For the past days I tried to get him to befriend either Sean or Sarah, and failed. Ferny was my last hope. But no matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't remember any of our names; he just called us by our color. Sarah was the yellow one, my brother was the brown one, and so on.

"Alright," I sighed, "you tried. I'll go get him. Sean is in the arcades, having nightmares about ducks and hounds."

Ferny and Sarah laughed and nodded at this as they climbed down the stage. I opened the 'Employees Only' door left from the stage and walked into the familiar narrow hallway. I passed by the storage room where I woke up in Bonnie's body for the first time and entered the break room. Jack was sitting in front of the TV, swinging sideways slightly as he watched ThunderCats.

"Um, Jack?" I whispered. "Could you please help us?"

He stopped swinging and turned around to face me. "Yes?" he sighed.

"My brother forgot to charge his batteries, so w-"

"A-Again?" stammered Jack. I nodded.

"So we need your help to carry him from the arcades to the maintenance room." I said slowly. Jack let his gaze fall and traced an X on the floor.

"C'mon Jack!" I said more anxiously than I wanted to, "Remember what I told you? We are a team! We have to work together."

He stubbornly kept on tracing an X on the floor. "Okay." I sighed. "It's okay if you don't do it for my friends, or my brother. But could you please do it for me?"

Jack looked up at me for a few seconds, as if he were inspecting me. He then slowly pushed himself up and walked to the door without saying a word.

"Thank you!" I said cheerily as we left the room.

Over the past three weeks the five us of had been through… quite a lot. But somehow we were making this work. Somehow we were making a life in here, and somehow I felt that after the first show tomorrow things might start to take a turn for the best. And above all we were always there for each other whenever someone needed a hand.

Besides, what more could possibly happen to us?

* * *

**A/N: **Okay guys, see ya next week Sunday 10 PM GMT. And as always feel free to leave a comment, a follow or fav; they're very appreciated! Have a good week and take care.


	8. Plug and play

**A/N: **I hope you're in the mood for a biggie this week, because that's what you guys are about to get! So warm up those reading circuits, grab yourself a cold soda, and lean back for a _very _long chapter_._ Yes, I know I said short and concise, and yes I tried to split this in two, but sometimes the story does what the story wants, and even as a writer you can't hold her back. I'm sure a bunch of you know that feeling.

So, lot's of things that happen in this chapter will be important in the future, and well... let's just say that this is one of those turning points that every story has; you'll know what I mean eventually ;) Oh, and as always thanks for the follows and reviews on the last chap!

As always your comments and critic are more than welcome, and if you think you spotted an error _please _let me know, even if you're not sure. Happy reading and have a good week!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Plug and play**

"Easy now…" commanded Ferny as we lowered my brother's body in the maintenance room. "And… perfect!"

We all wheezed as the strain on our gears finally subsided. Sean's body was now sitting on the floor with his upper half slumped forward. Sarah grabbed an extension cord and passed it to Ferny as Jack and I started to idly walk around the room littered with spare animatronic parts, bolts and screws, and little cans of oil and grease.

Since Ferny only had one useful hand it was up to Sarah to help him with anything related to our bodies. Watching the duo work together like a slightly under-oiled machine was as amusing as it was worrying, but somehow they always managed to get done whatever they had to get done.

"Umm, Brandon?" called out Sarah behind me, "Did you, by any chance, let Sean fall on his back?"

I turned around to see her and Ferny staring at me with fiery eyes and crossed arms. The large flap on Sean's back that covered the battery and the power port was open. The large battery that was normally deep inside his torso was visible.

"It snapped loose." said Ferny flatly, "I'll have to take it out and check for broken parts. I don't think there are any, but still."

I scratched my head nervously. "Oh… umm… I didn't think…"

"Brandon, come here." whispered Sarah warmly as she invited me with a hand gesture.

I walked to her reluctantly as my bunny ears dropped down in guilt. As soon as I was close enough to her she grabbed my left ear and gave it a big tug.

"OWW!" I yelped as she finally let it go, "You know how much that hurts?!"

"That's why I did it bozo!" she snapped back, "What if something inside Sean did break?!"

"No fighting now." interrupted Fer, "And guys, you should really look at this."

The battery was now on the floor, letting us see a big space inside Sean's torso. We leaned close to it and inspected the whole thing. It took us a while to see it.

There was a blood seal, just like the one on the red book's cover, drawn on a side of the interior of his chest. Besides it there was another smaller symbol: a circle with two tiny half circles on top of it.

"A bear head." whispered Sarah.

Ferny nodded. "If what our killer said about the seals a few weeks ago is true, then I'm guessing that each one of us has two: one in that book and one in our bodies. And if breaking the seals in that book erases us, I don't know what would happen if the seals on our bodies were broken. But I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be nice."

"But our killer didn't tell us about this." I said, "He didn't want us to find out. Why?"

The three of us let out a thoughtful sigh. I threw a quick glance at Jack, who was sitting by the door tracing circles on the floor out of boredom.

"Alright," continued Ferny, "we'll tell Sean when he wakes up. Sarah, help me get the battery back in and plug him in."

After a few minutes they managed to reattach the battery and connect the cord to Sean's power port. As soon as my brother was plugged in his familiar blue glow returned to his eyes.

"Don…" he groaned painfully, "I think something's loose. Come close."

Filled with worry and guilt, I leaned down. "Brother?" I whispered. "Are you alri-AWW!"

He tugged at my left ear, making me jump backwards. "What the hell?!" I whined.

"Yeah, that's what you get for letting me fall on my ass!" he muttered angrily, rubbing his bottom. "Thank God nothing inside of me broke." He slowly stretched his arms and bent his legs to start up his servos.

"But Sarah tugged at that ear already!" I whimpered.

"Did she?" asked my brother. "Thanks Sarah, I appreciate it!" I turned around to see Sarah sticking up her thumb before, well…

"AHH! Ferny, you too?!" I squeaked, gently rubbing my abused ear. "What did I do to you?!"

Ferny just shrugged and laughed. "I didn't want to be left out!"

The five of us, even me, laughed along with Fer and spent the rest of the afternoon playing and joking. At night we talked about the second set of seals and what would happen to us when the restaurant reopened. Although we decided to act like we were just the Fazbear Gang we hoped that if our bodies were found, our murder case might be reopened, and maybe, just maybe, we would get justice. We fell asleep in the backstage room with high hopes in tomorrow.

* * *

But instead of waking up at the regular opening time, we woke up well before dawn with three men using black outfits, rubber gloves and face masks in front of us. They were carrying large garbage bags on their shoulders and one of them had a garden cart behind him with a mop and some bottles in it.

"He wasn't lying boys!" began the man in front of the two, "They're in there!"

"Sick bastard," hissed the man on the right, "why did he do this?"

"Revenge." said the man on the left with confidence. The one in front turned to him.

"Why do you say that Nel?" he asked.

Nel shrugged. "Dunno Boris; it's always revenge with that sick bunch."

They walked up to us quietly. If we talked the noises we made would give us away, so we couldn't do anything when the man on the right opened up Jack's torso with a violent tug. He looked into it for a moment before taking a few indecisive steps back.

"Um, Boris…" he said with a shaky voice, "you sure we shouldn't call the cops or something?"

"Listen Andy," growled Boris as he jerked open Ferny's red torso, "the owners of this fine establishment paid us a lot of dough to do this nicely and quietly. So keep your mouth shut or you'll join your new friends in the landfill, got it?"

Andy sighed nervously and reluctantly got close to Jack again.

"Listen man," said Nel friendly as he ripped Sarah's corpse from its prison of wires, "We did things like this many times in the past, remember? Bodies are bodies, nothing else. Now, do you have the brushes or not?"

They opened us up like we were just cans and teared away the last bit of our old and happy we had left: our own bodies. We watched on as they stuffed them into the garbage bags while Boris hummed a little military tune. After that they each took a metal brush and scraped off most of the dried blood from our fur while we silently cringed in pain.

When it was done, Nel looked into our torsos. "Boris," he called out, "what about the inside?"

One thought crossed our minds: the seals. They were going to be wiped off.

Boris let out a thoughtful snort. "Y'know what? I don't wanna screw up any circuits or cables in there. Let's just close them up, bleach the room and get the hell outta here."

They closed the frontal plates of our torsos and mopped up every corner of the room with bleach. Then they tossed the bags with our corpses onto the cart, and left with everything. But we didn't feel the same anymore; there was a big emptiness inside of us, physically and emotionally. We realized with pain that our last shot at legitimate justice would rot away in the county's dump. The only thing we did that night was get as close to each other as we could, occasionally throwing an arm around someone's shoulder while we silently let the hours slip by.

* * *

The twelve shows that we did over the next three days were awkward at best and a torture at worst. It was just as Ferny said: before each show a cassette with voices and songs was put into the players on our sides. Meanwhile somebody backstage used a remote control to make our bodies move like they were supposed to, while the depressingly small audiences clapped listlessly at the MC's old jokes and looked at us with disgust. We guessed that tough we couldn't smell it, the stench that our corpses left behind after rotting for so long was apparently not going to fade away any time soon.

Three weeks and a few days had passed since that rainy Tuesday. It was now the 2nd of September, my brother's birthday.

"Hooh hooh hoh! And t-thank you once more dear F-F-Fazbear friends for j-joining us tonight!" called out Freddy happily with his heavy, jolly and glitchy voice as he waved at the mumbling parents. "And s-see you next t-time!" And so the last show of the day ended. 8 PM, closing time and with that partial freedom were minutes away now. A few little kids in the back clapped at Freddy's goodbye. I tried to look at them to see if they were smiling, but the four of us were already being forced to bow for the non-existent crowd.

We walked behind the curtain into the backstage room where an employee took Bonnie's fake guitar from my arms. He then did the same with Chica's cupcake tray and Freddy's mic. He glanced casually at Foxy before grabbing a large remote control and flicking a little red switch.

Free-roam mode. The painful strain on our joints and gears finally eased away. The employee grabbed some keys, turned off the lights and closed the door as he stepped into the hallway of the section of the building for employees only.

"Hey Erik," we heard him call out, "is Caleb starting again tonight?"

"Yeah Fritz," said another voice, "but his shift begins at midnight and he has keys, so just lock everything."

"Okee-dokee!" chirped Fritz as the sound of his footsteps faded away. After a few minutes we finally heard the main front door open and close.

"THANK GOD IT'S OVER!" roared Ferny as he sat down on the floor. "This is just… I mean…" He let out a sigh of frustration.

"And I guess I'm twelve now…" muttered Sean bitterly, "This is not what I meant when I said that I wanted to have my birthday party at Freddy's." He leaned against the wall and slowly let himself slide down.

Sarah, Ferny and me looked at each other, and shared the same thought. "One, two, three…" we began in chorus, "Happy birth-"

"Stop it." hissed my brother. We did what he asked.

"Jack!" I called out, "We're backstage! No one's here now! You can come!"

"O-okay." he replied shyly.

Since he wasn't a part of the show, Jack was left alone for the whole day in the storage room. That room was in the part of the building for employees only, meaning I could check on him in between shows. But because Bucky was supposed to be just a mechanical suit he had to remain completely still until closing time.

"Umm, Sean?" said Sarah as she tapped my brother's shoulders, "Your cassette player is still going."

We looked on as he opened the flap on his side. The player was whirring softly, but no audio was coming out.

"Hmm," huffed my brother, "that's weird. Maybe it's one of those new tapes that last longer." He stuck his big finger inside the opening and clumsily started to poke around. The player stopped before giving out a different whir.

"That's the rewind doofus." sighed Sarah, "I have smaller fingers, let me…"

"No!" grumbled my brother stubbornly, "I got this Sarah." He moved his finger to the right and again tried to press the 'Stop' button. The player stopped for a moment, before whirring again.

"You really are something aren't you?" said an annoyed Sarah, "You pressed play, now can I _please_…"

"-eant when I said that I wanted to have my birthday party at Freddy's." muttered the bitter voice of my brother as it came out of Freddy's voice box.

The room went completely silent. We remained petrified as our minds tried to grasp what was happening.

"Stop it." hissed the player.

"Did that…" started Ferny as he got on his feet and walked to my brother, "did that record your…?"

"Hmm," continued the player, "that's weird. Maybe it's one of those new tapes that…"

"IT DID!" hollered Ferny as he threw his hand and hook in the air, "We can record our voice so that others can hear it; we can speak to our families!"

I looked at my friends in disbelieve; their eyes were bright and fiery with hope. Could it be? Could we actually manage to get back our families at least, and get our side of the story told?

"It's still going!" cheered Sean as the player kept on parroting what he said with a small delay.

"We can talk to them again!" said Sarah joyfully, "We can send them the tapes through mail; they'll hear our voice and they'll know it's us!"

The four of us started to laugh happily at the discovery. I was overjoyed to hear my brother's voice, his true voice, ring lively through the air like it used to all the time. At that moment, it filled us with hope. We are alive, we thought. We will come through.

* * *

"I miss you Mom." I whispered with mixed feelings as the last minutes of my blank tape ended, "It was hard sometimes; I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for my friends. But knowing that Sean and I will see your beautiful smile again fills me up with more joy and happiness than I can put in words. I send you my biggest hugs and kisses, please share them with Dad when you visit him and tell him that I remember him and love him."

Sarah used a pencil to press the stop and eject buttons. She grabbed the tape as it popped out of my side and put it in a box with the other four. Ferny grabbed the box with his good hand and left the backstage area and us to hide it in the security office on the other side of the building, close to the arcade room.

It was almost midnight. Over the last four hours we all recorded a message to our families telling them that we were alive and that the only way we could talk to them was through cassette tapes; we also warned them not to tell anyone else about us. Since Jack's body didn't have a player I happily recorded a message to his brother Mike and his family for him while he told me what he wanted to say. We also told everything about the way we were murdered and that the suit operator was innocent. We described the way our real killer looked like and said that the management paid some people to get rid of our bodies.

Our plan was to put the tapes in the same boxes that were used to send broken animatronic parts for repair. Sarah was getting good enough with her hands to write our addresses on the boxes, and then we would just have to wait until the mail came to pick them up, which according to the things Ferny read happened regularly.

Jack, Sarah, my brother and I were sitting in the backstage room, still waiting for Ferny to come back when we heard the familiar sound of the front door opening.

"I forgot that the security guard would come tonight." whispered my brother nervously as he looked at Jack.

"Jack," I whispered, "hide in the maintenance room. Remember that supposedly we're able to free-roam at night but you can't."

Jack nodded at me and quickly but quietly opened the door to the hallway and slipped into the first room.

"Okay," whispered Sarah, "you think he can hear us Sean?"

"Nah, his office is pretty far." replied my brother, "Ferny should be coming back to us by now, but everyone knows that the animatronics can walk around freely at night so him moving is not suspicious." Sarah and I nodded.

"Brother," I began, "remember what our killer told us the day we woke up? We were supposed to kill the security guard and follow those rules or we would be erased."

"Yes Don, but he never actually said it was a rule to kill the security guard did he?" scoffed Sean.

Feeling reassured by his words I let out a carefree sigh; he was right.

"And besides," he continued, "we would never be able to do something like that."

The alarm clock broke the relative silence of the room with short beeps; it was midnight.

"See?" said my brother after the beeping stopped, "It's past 12:00 AM, and nothing hap-"

His voice cut off sharply. Then he suddenly let out a short cry as he fell sideways on the floor. Sarah and I stood up and ran to him in panic. He began to groan and pant as a soft red glow appeared on the side of his chest, right where his blood seal was.

"Don… Sarah…" he gasped, "I feel so… weird…"

We looked on in horror as his body began to twitch violently on the floor. As it got worse his blue eyes started to flicker on and off. Then the twitching stopped just as quickly as it started, leaving behind a deafening silence as his eyes went off completely.

"Sean?" hissed Sarah anxiously, "Sean?! Please, say something!"

Freddy's head looked up at us as his eyes began to glow again. But when I looked into them there was no sign of emotion. There was no sign of my brother. There was only a cold, lifeless light.

"Who's Sean?" asked Freddy slowly and coldly with my brother's voice. As he stood up the red glow faded away from his chest.

Sarah and I took a few steps back. "T-That's not funny," I stuttered, trying not to sound half as terrified as I was. "Please, just drop it."

"Hmm… Sean…" whispered Freddy thoughtfully as he grabbed his chin, "Sounds kinda familiar."

"What are you talking about stupid!" hollered a despaired Sarah, "That's who you are! You're Sean Williams! You're…"

Sarah's pleading turned into a soft groan as she leaned against the wall, letting out painful huffs. "My chest…" she groaned, putting a hand on her red-glowing side. "It… It…"

Her body began to jolt and twitch against the wall while the terrified and confused glow in her eyes started to flicker, before fading out completely. It was then replaced with the same cold light as Freddy's eyes. She calmly steadied herself as her chest stopped glowing, turning her head to me.

"It's fine." said Chica flatly, staring at me with her dead purple eyes, "It's all fine. I'm alright Bonnie; don't worry."

I fell a chill run down my metallic spine as her cold gaze fell on me. "Brother, Sarah," I whimpered in panic, "please tell me that you're messing with me."

Chica and Freddy laughed teasingly, but their eyes didn't reflect the slightest bit of joy. "C'mon Bon; _you're _the one that's messing with us." said Freddy, still half-laughing. "First you make Chica call me Sean, then you call her Sarah, and just to top it off you say I'm your brother! Very funny my dear Bonnie."

"That's not my freaking name!" I wailed angrily, "And I _am_ your brother you idiot! I've always been and always will be!"

"Okay Bonnie, that's enough." said Chica sternly, "You're wasting time. Foxy is already close to the guard's office. If we don't hurry up he'll score the first point."

"Yeah, what happened Bon?" asked Freddy with the slightest bit of sadness in his voice, "Are you not going to play with us? We could have _so _much fun together!"

"STOP IT YOU TWO!" I screamed as hard as I could, not caring anymore if anyone heard it, "We're not _them_! That's what the monster that did this to us wants us to think! We have friends and family mourning for us outside these damn doors! We're…"

My voice trailed off as I felt a sharp hot pain enter my chest. I tried to keep my balance as the world started to slide and slip under my feet, but I just couldn't. I let myself fall on my hands and knees, panting from the overwhelming sensation. Suddenly my whole body began to twitch and jerk uncontrollably. My vision came and went rapidly as a million thoughts and memories flooded my mind. I tried to hold on to them, to save them, but they were gone already. And just like that it all stopped, leaving behind a complete hollowness and a chilling cold… that I quite liked.

"We're the Fazbear Gang." I whispered, finally giving myself up. I looked up at my dear friends Freddy and Chica. They chuckled warmly at my words and helped me get back up on my feet.

"We have a game to play Bon," said Freddy as we walked on to the show stage, "and we're late for it. How do you feel?"

I laughed at his question. "I've never felt better Fred."

He patted my shoulder as I climbed down the stage. Soon we were walking across the dinner area to the security office, hoping that Foxy didn't get to our prize already.

"Yes, we will kill." I thought to myself enthusiastically as we came closer to the office, "We will kill for that good friend of ours that gave us this wonderful new life."


	9. Haunting laughs

**A/N: **Hey guys, hope you had a great week! But if you're like me and you also had to spend hours studying for those dreaded finals... then that's probably not the case. So forgive me if this chap feels a bit short compared to last week's exceptionally long one.

Also, it's Mother's Day! I know that it's pretty unlikely that any mother might be into this story, but still: A big applause to any mom that might be reading this for loving the ordeal they have to endure for so many years: us.

Finally your reviews, as always, made my week. I loved your reactions to last week's chap! Don't worry: a bit of cliffhanging every once in a while is a pretty good arm exercise. And yes, I love a good dark tale. And yes, stuff's about to go down for our friends. And now that you know that, happy reading...

* * *

**Chapter 9: Haunting laughs**

The white light coming from the ceiling lamps above me stung my eyes as I woke up to the sound of a beeping alarm, feeling strangely tired. I slowly stretched my arms to start up my locked servos, only to find out that they were all running smoothly. Weird, since I had slept in the backstage room through the whole night. But when I turned my head around I realized that I was in the arcades.

I pushed myself up on my feet and looked around the room; there were no signs of any of my friends. The clock on the wall said it was 6:05 AM, meaning that the place would open in less than two hours. Confused, but not afraid, I walked towards the door to the dining area. I was about to the exit the room when I saw a familiar yellow figure crouching in a dark corner, looking absolutely terrified of something.

"What's wrong Jack?" I asked, walking to him. Jack's eyes met mine, stopping me in my tracks. He was terrified of _me_.

"Jack?" I said as soothingly as possible as I got closer, "Are you o-"

"P-Please… d-don't hurt me…" he cried, his voice was drenched in fear. "I don't wanna play… I don't wanna play…" He traced X's on the tiled floor with so much force it left a faint yellow mark.

I tried to laugh it off jokingly. "What are you talking about buddy? I would never hurt you."

"I t-thought you were g-good…" he sobbed, "B-But I heard you l-laughing s-so hard at him."

I began to worry a bit; did he have a nightmare? "Okay, who was I laughing at?"

He looked up at me like I was a stranger. "The f-four of you were all l-laughing at the m-man… t-the guard… he had so much p-pain." Jack's voice suddenly went up to a high-pitched whimper, "He was c-crawling, begging you t-to stop… there was so much b-blood coming out of h-his belly… so m-much blood on the f-f-floor…"

Jack covered his face with his hands and shook his head, "B-But you… j-j-just laughed! And y-you said t-to the red one that i-it was unf-fair because h-he was there first, a-and then the b-brown one said that they got there late b-because of you, and t-then…"

I let him cry it out for a moment, being sure that it was all a bad dream of his. "Then y-you saw m-me on the stage, and t-told me to come play w-with you, and you k-kept on t-telling me how f-fun it all was…"

Little by little I saw it in front of me once again. The blood, the fear in the guard's face and Jack's eyes, and how I laughed at it like it was the funniest thing in the world. I shook my head in disbelieve. How was it possible that he wasn't taken over by the same… thing that took over us?

"You kept on c-calling me with a weird n-name," he continued, "y-you said t-that I was being r-rude because I d-d-didn't play along w-with you… and you said that I w-was going to be s-sorry if I didn't s-stop being so rude."

I felt something cold run through me as I saw myself storming to the stage with balled fists while Jack stumbled backwards.

"And I got s-scared so I started to run away f-from you, and you r-ran after me, a-and you started to y-yell at m-me, saying that if I d-didn't behave and didn't p-play along you wouldn't be my f-friend anymore."

I leaned against an arcade machine as I started to feel sick. I said that, and I meant every word of it.

"And I ran in h-here, a-and you came in b-behind me. And I ran into a c-corner, and…"

A wave of disgust came to me as the image of what happened next played in my mind. "Please stop Jack." I begged, "I don't want to hear anymore."

"You g-grabbed me." said Jack with sudden calmness, "And y-you threw me t-to the floor… and you called me a lame c-coward…"

"Please." I whimpered. "Please, _please _stop Jack."

"You s-said I was useless."

"No, I didn't! I never did!"

"You s-said I was broken… that the world would b-be better without m-me."

"I didn't want to say it! Believe me!"

"You said t-that if I didn't start p-playing, you would s-smash me to bits…"

"Stop… please…"

"…until I l-looked like the p-pile of t-trash that I was."

"I'm begging you."

"That y-you were never my friend, and t-that everything you said was a l-lie."

"You're my friend Jack, that's the truth; I promise."

"YOUR PROMISES ARE ALL LIES!"

The two white pinpoints in his eyes started to shine so brightly that I couldn't look at them; there was no longer any fear in them, only anger. I took some steps back, unable to believe the amount of light that came from those two tiny dots.

"I don't wanna play." he whispered coldly as he looked down, his eyes slowly starting to fade back to dim pinpoints.

"Neither do I," I replied quickly, "that wasn't me last night, that was…"

"I mean, I d-don't want to p-play with you again."

Something in the way he said these words hit me like a freight train. No; I couldn't lose him. I would _not _lose him.

"Doing stupid things," I whispered with a broken voice, "doesn't make us stupid; it makes us human. I'm human Jack!"

"N-No." he said flatly. "You're a monster."

I looked into his eyes one last time, hoping to see at least some of the happiness and friendliness that I had taken for granted for these past three week. There was none of that left; only resentment. I stood up silently, knowing that there was no way to prove him wrong. As I walked out of the room I heard my own laughs from last night echoing in my head, mocking me cruelly. I didn't care. I deserved it. I broke my promise yet again. I failed to protect Jack from the worst monster of all.

Me.

* * *

The blood trail started at the open door of the security office. It zigzagged around some tables of the main dining area before making a sharp turn towards the show stage. I followed it while little by little all the horrible things that we did last night came back to me. The burning in my chest, followed by a strange cold. Us telling Ferny, no, Foxy that he won only because he was closer to the office, while we triumphantly dragged the bleeding guard around the floor. A curved silver and red flash entering the stomach of the man while we laughed at his pain. And all the things I did to Jack before I suddenly collapsed on the floor, unconscious, as an alarm started beeping.

And yet I... enjoyed it. I wanted to do everything that I did. I wanted to kill, to hurt… it all felt so… liberating… maybe we should do it again…

"What's wrong with me?" I muttered angrily as I shook my head, trying to get the nagging thought out of my mind. I stopped walking and raised my open hands, taking a good look at them before letting them fall down again. I'd find a way to fix things with Jack, somehow. But first I had to find the rest of my friends.

I climbed up the show stage, pushed away the curtain and followed the blood trail to the backstage room where it became much thinner; the poor man must've bled out by then. I hastily opened the door to the hallway and stormed into the maintenance room where the trail ended.

A couple of human eyes hanging from the bloody eye sockets of the backup Freddy suit greeted me as I entered the room, immediately making me wince back in disgust. I looked at a corner that was littered with small screw and bolts to see Ferny, Sarah and my brother sitting limply close to each other.

"I…" whimpered Ferny while slowly turning his head to me, letting me see his sad and pained eyes, "I… killed him Brandon." He covered his eyes with his hand; his muzzle and hook were covered in dried blood.

"No, you didn't Fer." whispered my brother softly. "He made us do this."

Sarah tried to throw an arm around Ferny's trembling shoulders, but he shuffled away. Looking at what became of the night guard and my friends I felt something come over me, something I'd never felt before. It was the first time I had felt so much hate towards someone.

"That monster…" I growled as I clenched my hydraulic fists, "that coward… we will get him for this!"

"Brandon," whispered Sarah nervously, "please don't say that out loud."

I looked down at her, surprised by her scared tone. "Why shouldn't I?" I asked harshly.

Everyone's gazes seemed to go through me as I heard some quick footsteps become louder and louder behind me. I slowly turned around, barely catching a glimpse of a tall purple figure with a red-glowing chest standing at the door before losing all strength in my legs. Once again, I collapsed to the floor, my legs burning with an unnatural pain.

"Because I'm right here Bonnie!" called out our killer happily as he entered the room and closed the door, holding the red book in his hand.

* * *

He admired the stuffed suit while smiling and nodding perversely. I managed to crawl to where my friends were, but my legs felt too weak even to try to sit. That horrible handicapped feeling I felt three weeks ago came to me again, but this time it was much stronger. Meanwhile the man cleared some spare parts from a table before sitting on it and crossing his legs, putting the book on his side. He started to clap slowly as he grinned proudly at us.

"_Very_ good guys!" he said approvingly, "You all played very well last night. Some of you were a bit rough on your teammates tough." I looked away in guilt as his gaze fell on me. How did he know?

"But don't worry!" he continued, "even though the first point goes to Foxy, you're all winners to me!" He clapped a few times while smiling cheerily at us before Ferny broke down again, sobbing pitifully.

"Aww, come on!" growled our killer with sudden frustration, "Look at you Foxy, whining like a baby that broke his favorite toy." He traced some vertical lines under his eyes with his finger. "Boo-hoo! Why did this happen!" he mocked childishly, "Boo-hoo! It was not my fault!"

"Shut up." hissed Sarah, "You killed that man, not Ferny."

The man let out a hollow chuckle. "Oh, please! Don't tell me you're all angels Chica; you _loved _it." He got off the table and walked up to where we were sitting as he pointed at us one by one. "Every. Single. One of you did. You thought I was controlling your minds? That I got some kind of evil into you? Please… everything was already there. I just set it free."

His chuckle turned into another twisted grin as he started to calmly walk around the room, holding his chin. "There is evil lurking inside each of us, longing to be come out. Day by day, we go on smiling and waving at people whilst trying to contain our true selves. Who hasn't ever cooked with his mother, held the kitchen knife, and suddenly thought about stabbing her? Who hasn't ever stood with a friend on the rail of a tall building, and suddenly thought about pushing him off?"

He turned back to us, looking like he expected an answer. He sighed when he didn't get it. "These are all fleeting images and ideas that come to us, but that we dismiss as ridiculous and forget about or lock away. And all that's needed for that liberation, for our monstrous but real nature to break free and grow into a magnificent fire, is a tiny spark that was generously provided last night. At first, you will be yourselves only when there is a security guard between midnight and 6:00 AM; but eventually it will begin earlier and end later. Just like a snowball rolling down a hill your true and evil side will keep growing unstoppably, until it completely takes over that fake sense of humanity you so stupidly hold on to. And one happy day, you will discover and learn to enjoy the delight that's killing without remorse; then we will be the best of friends without the tiniest of differences between us!"

"Listen to me you freak," growled my brother with sudden sharpness, "No matter what you do to us, we will never be like you.

The man laughed back at this. "Freddy, don't you remember what I told you a few weeks ago?"

He unbuttoned his purple security guard jacket and pulled the neck of his t-shirt down, letting us see a familiar red figure tattooed on the part of his chest that always glowed whenever he paralyzed our bodies. Baffled, we looked on at his seal that was just like ours, only there was something like a star on the bottom left corner of the triangle.

"You are more like me than you think!" he chirped happily.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, your _favorite _character is back!

Spotted an error? Is something not clear? Please let me know with a PM. As always, there will be a new chapter next week Sunday at 10:00 PM GMT... hopefully. Have a good week guys and see you later!


	10. Awkward reunions

**A/N: **Welcome back guys! For the ones that are going through finals season (like me), I wish you the best of luck. We're almost there, just one last push...

Also, and I know I've said this before, I kinda really appreciate your reviews. If you liked a chapter or like the story and you let me know I'm thankful for that and it means a lot to me, it does. But if you didn't like something for any reason, then a review telling me why is even _more_ welcome! After all, feedback is _the _key to become better at what most of us are doing: writing. So don't be afraid to give critique where or when it's due... if you want to, off course. Anyways, happy reading and I'll see you at the end of this chap!

* * *

**Chapter 10: Awkward reunions**

The man smiled at our confusion while he buttoned up his purple jacket. "Tattooed with ink mixed with my own blood." he boasted, "Got a double dose of needles, but I think the result was worth it."

"If we break the seals on our bodies," asked Ferny with a thin and broken voice, "will we be… free?"

Our killer looked at him with eerie compassion. "Why would you do that to yourself Foxy? You looked very happy last night!"

Ferny turned his head away from him, shaking it slightly.

"But," continued the man, "since the second set of seals bind the souls to your bodies, I guess that if you break them those kids' souls would be freed…"

My ears perked up as he said this. We all looked at the man with anticipation.

"…and stay in this world forever, just to wither away. You know how a body rots without a soul in it? If a soul stays outside a body for too long, without moving on to I-don't-know-where, it will rot just like a corpse. It will become a half-dead soul, devoid of any human memories of emotions. They're not ghosts; that would be fantastic compared to what they are. After a few years in this world, the only things that will be left of those souls would be darkness and pain. So I like to call them Shadows."

The man paused for effect. "So be happy!" he said while putting his arms in the air, "There is no way OW!"

Our killer rubbed a side of his head as the loose screw that Sean threw at him bounced on the floor. All our eyes looked at him with fear and surprise at his brave stupidity.

"I just wanted to remind you," he scoffed against the angry gaze of the man, "that I've been called stubborn by many and stupid by a few, but never a quitter. So please forgive me if I don't believe any of your nonsense."

"Oh, really?" said the man, "You think I'm kidding Freddy? After all that you did last night, after all of the pain you caused, you're still smiling. You weren't so heartless the last time I saw you." My brother seemed to be taken aback by his words.

"See?" continued the man, "I told you that your true self will grow with time. You seem a bit too cheery compared to your friends. So, let me ask you this: do you even feel any remorse?"

The fiery gaze in my brother's eyes faded away to an idle glow as he looked away from the man.

"And you broke one of the rules that we agreed on last time!" called out the man energetically as he pointed at the screw, "so I'm gonna remind you what happens when you, or any of you, do that."

Sarah, Ferny and I looked on in shock as Sean started to twist and squirm on the floor, groaning agonizingly as the man's seal once again glowed in a soft red.

"AAARGH! It... It HURTS!" roared my brother as he blindly punched and kicked the floor, "GODDAMMIT… IT HURTS!"

"STOP IT!" I shouted, facing the man, "Just… do it to me if you want!"

"Shut up Don!" huffed Sean, "Don't… argh… be stup… AARGH!"

The man laughed sickly at my brother's pain before stopping suddenly as we heard the sound of the front doors opening. My brother now lay panting on the floor while he recovered. I looked at our killer: the faintest glow had gone from his chest.

"Hello, hello?" called out the not too unfamiliar voice of the head security guard as we heard him close the door.

Our killer bent over in laughs, slapping his knee. "Man oh man! Is that who I think it is?"

"Uh, hello?" continued the guard, "Caleb, uhh, shift's over buddy; sorry I'm late. Where are… oh, no."

Once again a smug and satisfied smile appeared on our killer's face. "I think he saw the little mess that we left!" he said, sprinting to the door. "Dave!" he shouted out friendly as he stopped leaned against the doorframe, "Long time no see!"

"WALTHER?!" shrieked Dave.

"Sorry about the mess!" replied our killer teasingly. "Seems like there's a bit of mopping ahead of ya!"

"You freaking animal!" cried out Dave furiously, "You killed Caleb!"

"I didn't Dave! My new friends did! Come here; I'm sure they want to finally meet you properly!"

* * *

Walther rubbed his hands in excitement as we heard Dave slowly coming towards us. As soon as he peeked into the maintenance room he let out a yelp of terror at the sight of the bloody Freddy suit. Our killer let out a roaring, mocking laugh as Dave clutched at his chest, trying to steady his breath.

"Ha ha! Your… he he… face was amazing!" wheezed Walther as he pinched a tear from his eye. "You haven't changed a bit! You still have the uniform and all!"

Dave's eyes scanned the room nervously as he took some indecisive steps towards our killer. "What are you doing here?" he asked shakily.

"Oh, y'know…" muttered Walther as he shrugged nonchalantly, "Passing by to say hello to my friends." He cocked his head at us.

Dave shook his head. "I see you're still as obsessed with them as the day we fired you. Maybe that's why you did what you did."

Walther's expression suddenly became harsh and serious as he threw a hateful glare at the other man in purple uniform. "You say it like you don't have any blood on your hands. You were with me for all that time. Did you forget already? How you diligently cleaned everything up whenever I asked you to?

Dave took some steps forward as he pointed a trembling finger at our killer. "Yes, I did things for you I will regret for the rest of my life. I helped you get the job at the diner with me. I did the dirty job of cleaning up the mess you made. But I _never _hurt anyone. You really think I forgot about those three kids? I still have to see their little dead eyes whenever I go to sleep because you…"

Dave's voice went to a deep and hateful tone as he balled his fists, "…you lived in your little twisted fantasy, with that sick idea that you could play with life and death like you were God. I hate myself for ever calling you a friend."

Walther's face seemed to twitch slightly after hearing this. "You _do_ have someone's blood on your hands, someone that was your loyal friend for very long." Dave took some steps back as Walther walked towards him. "My little brother was shot down like an animal because you betrayed him. Thanks to you and that filthy cop all the people I care about are either rotting in a grave or rotting in prison."

"Your brother was the worst kind of criminal." whispered Dave coldly as hate and fury oozed out of Walther's face. "He had it coming and you know it."

Our killer's face became pale after hearing this. He then turned around and walked away from Dave, back to the center of the room. "You know what?" he said with the back turned to the guard, his tone suddenly calm and carefree, "I'm winning! I got the cop and his kids, I will get you, and I managed to give life to my friends." Once again he cocked his head at us.

"Don't tell me that…" Dave's voice once again trembled as he looked at us, "It was you." Walther nodded with a satisfied smile on his face as Dave looked at him in disgust. "_You_ killed those five kids. You did the same thing to them as with those other three a few years ago."

"You see," said Walther with excitement, "it worked Dave. This time it did work like it should've worked back then. They're alive!" He pointed at us with a confident smile on his face while we remained completely still, much to our killer's disappointment.

"C'mon guys!" hissed Walther angrily as he approached us, "Move, speak to me, do something!" Dave once again shook his head as he saw a grown man talking to four lifeless animatronics.

"So that's how you wanna play, huh?" whispered Walther calmly as he grabbed a large wrench from a nearby table. He pointed the tip at Ferny's petrified face. "After all I did for you, after all the joy and freedom I gave you last night, you're still gonna make me look bad, huh Foxy?"

"Don't even think about it." Dave's voice suddenly sounded brave and decided as he clenched his small fists.

Our killer let out a satisfied grin. "I see he's still your favorite." he whispered with cold empathy.

We knew that if we moved or talked we would give ourselves away to Dave. We knew that if we just remained still Ferny would have to suffer at the hands of our killer. These thoughts raced through our minds as Walther held the wrench on top of Ferny like he had done with a cleaver almost a month ago. We waited and hoped for Ferny to defend himself, to tell us with actions that he wasn't just going to give himself up for us.

But he did.

None of us moved as the wrench smashed into Ferny's upper chest. "I know you can't speak to Dave like you can to me Foxy!" blurted our killer as the wrench came down again, "But you can just move a bit?!" A cracking noise echoed through the room as Walther started to assault Ferny's shoulders and arms, tearing strips of red fur from them, "AT LEAST BLINK YOU DAMN FOX!" cried out the raging man as the wrench finally teared through a part of Ferny's torso with a final blow; but our friend just took the pain without flinching.

Walther panted as he threw the wrench aside. "You…" he wheezed, "ungrateful lapdog."

"That's ENOUGH!" barked out Dave furiously, "Tell me right now why I shouldn't call 911 right now and get you arrested."

Walther chuckled and shook his head. "That's what I should ask _you_. Why didn't you do that three years ago in the first place? Why did you and Erik decide to shove everything under the carpet and play the fools?"

Dave's eyes trailed down as Walther walked up to him again. "We both know what will happen." he continued, "You will be Erik's loyal lapdog and make sure everything is nice and clean like it should be. You will tell him that I killed those kids, but he will make you not tell anyone because he knows that it will only bring bad press, and he will let an innocent man take the blame. Like three years ago, remember? Instead of bringing me to justice and getting slaughtered by the papers because a _security guard _killed three kids, you got rid of the evidence, tampered with the security footage to blame some poor random face in the crowd, and let me walk out as long as I promised not to ever come back again. You were so eager to get rid of me you even let me keep the uniform!"

Dave's face dropped to an expression of guilt and anger. "You will obey with anything," concluded Walther, "and as always, the only thing you will do is this: feel bad, and then repeat and repeat to yourself that you're still better than me. But we both know that you're not."

Dave remained still as Walther walked back to the table where he put the red book, grabbed it, and calmly exited the room. "Oh, and another thing!" he added as he stepped into the hallway, "The night shift is about to get much more interesting; so buy a lot of mops, and keep the numbers of Boris, Nel and Andy at hand. I'm sure they will be happy to lend their… cleaning… services to you again!"

"How… do you know?" asked Dave, but he fell silent as Walther shushed at him.

"Let's just say," he whispered, "that a little birdy told me."

Walther waved at us friendly as he speed-walked down the hallway. A few moments after the front door closed down again, Dave let himself fall down on the floor. He covered his eyes as he shook his head hopelessly, cursing himself out loud. He remained there for a minute or two, before he got up and took some deep breaths to calm himself down. But as he walked to the corner of the room, and grabbed a mop and a bleach bottle, we saw how his eyes welled up with tears.

* * *

By the time the pizzeria opened at 8:00 AM there wasn't a drop of blood anywhere, not even on Ferny's body; Dave took care of that at the last minute. He did leave the stuffed suit where it was and, just like Walther predicted, we saw three dark figures enter the maintenance room at night. The next day the brown fur of the now empty Freddy suit was completely spotless. Over the next few days we repeated our routine with the shows I once loved, but now hated, as we all felt that something bad was coming our way. After all, we had painfully learned that tragedies rarely come alone. But at least there weren't any security guards at night, meaning that we didn't have to worry about our evil taking over us… for now. Still, the horizon remained grey.

Ferny wasn't the same. He became quiet and retracted. Even his proud and sharp gaze disappeared from his eyes, leaving behind a pitiful sad light that seemed to be lost in the past. Since Walther damaged his chest so badly and there weren't any spare parts available for him he was removed from the show; meaning he had to stay alone in the maintenance room for most of the day like a played-out toy. Even though he asked to be left alone Sarah always stayed by his side whenever she could. We knew that it was her that kept him going, even if barely.

Jack wasn't the same. Once again he isolated himself from everything and everyone around him. He locked himself up in the bubble I thought I had finally broken through. Whenever I walked up to him, he walked out of the room, not saying a word. Instead of coming to me when the restaurant closed like he used to, he stayed in the storage room, lost in his world of circles and X's.

And off course, Sarah, my brother and I weren't the same. Arcade marathons, little pranks and games were replaced by long silences after closing time. We couldn't deny what we had done: the image of the guard begging for mercy while we happily tortured him wouldn't stop haunting us.

But through it all, we all still had high hopes in one thing: the tapes. They were packed in the boxes for spare parts, they had our addresses on them, and they were ready to go to each of our families whenever the mail arrived. Then justice would be served and once again we would be together with the ones we loved.

So all we had to do was wait until a mail van appeared in front of the building. And after few days of waiting, a van did come early one morning, right before the pizzeria opened. But it wasn't for the mail. It was a big white van with the logo of the health and sanitation department on it.

* * *

**A/N: **We all know what that means...

And yes, Dave _is_ Phone Guy! And yes, he has a dirty past with Walther/The killer. And yes, I know that many people *cough* Game Theory *cough* still believe that the phone guy is the purple man. And no, I _really_ don't believe that. I won't explain why I won't take MatPat's word this time, let's just say that in my opinion it makes much more sense that they're two different people.

Well, that's it. See you guys next week and good luck with your finals!


	11. Something borrowed…

**A/N: **Well, I asked you last week to let me know what you thought of the story and you guys certainly didn't let me down! Thanks a lot for those reviews and suggestions! I currently do not have anyone to proofread my chapters before updating, so typos do happen. Please have patience and let me know when you spot one. Again thanks a lot for your amazing feedback this past week!

Now, on a grimmer note:

I honestly don't like warnings, in my opinion they're spoilers in a certain way. If a tragedy happens it should be unexpected, heartbreaking, etc. However, you are getting a warning from me today: this chap might be... unpleasant. Before I even posted Ch. 1 I already had what happens here in mind. But for different reasons I've recently thought A LOT on whether what happens here should be left out or not, and in the end, decided that it should stay. This is also the last chapter of the first "tape" of this story.

Regardless of it all, happy reading, and let me know what you think of it!

* * *

**Chapter 11: Something borrowed…**

Standing on the show stage, my brother and I looked at the sad display of Erik, the manager, shouting out words Mom said were very bad at the two officers from the health department while they stuck a big red sign on the door of the pizzeria. We had seen those officers before, we had listened to the 'conversations' they had with Erik, so we knew what was going to happen to the pizzeria. The question was what would happen to us.

We walked behind curtains to the backstage area and stepped into the 'Employees Only' hallway, ready to deliver the bad news to Ferny and Sarah. We opened the door of the maintenance room to find the pair sitting on the floor next to each other.

"Hey guys!" greeted Sarah joyfully, "Glad you came! This big nerd over here was about to tell me more about how our gears work, right?"

Ferny only answered with a sad hum, immune to Sarah's attempt at cheering him up.

"How do you feel Fer?" asked Sean.

"Umm… the chest still hurts a bit." he mumbled, "But besides that, I'm fine."

"No you're not." the three of us replied in choir. Our red friend let his head fall down along with his ears.

"I know you since we were in kinder Ferny," I continued, "so does Sean. And Sarah and you were basically raised together. No one here is fine. But we all know you're the one that's feeling the worst in this room, and that says a lot."

A few seconds passed before Sarah nodded at my words. "Brandon's right Fer," she said, "you need to let it go."

"Easy for you to say!" growled Ferny, his eyes lighting up in rage, "I freaking _murdered _someone! And I… _enjoyed _it!" His eyes dimmed to a sad glow once again as he let his head fall down.

"Hey, we all feel bad about it." said my brother, "But we were… different. We couldn't think clearly, remember? Even Don did some bad things to Jack, things we know he would never do, so…"

"Bonnie." I interrupted. Three sets of confused eyes looked at me. "That night I was Bonnie. I think I finally understand what Walther said, and what happened that night. Sean Williams, for example, is human. And like any human, he has an evil side. But his good side is much bigger and stronger, so he's overall and most of the time, good. What happened was this: somehow, Walther or somebody else turned that good side off, and what remained was pure evil."

"I think I understand." said my brother as he crossed his arms smartly, "since Sean is 95% good,"

"95%?" huffed Sarah, "You're _so _humble."

"Fine... since he's 90% good, most of his memories and emotions are tied to that huge piece of the cake. Get rid of that, and you have a tiny slice left that has no human memories, barely any emotions, and is pure evil. A slice that calls himself Freddy Fazbear. The thing is, even though Freddy has nothing of Sean, Sean still knows and remembers what Freddy did because, well, Freddy _is_ a part of him. Same thing goes for the rest of us."

"But if Walther wasn't just bluffing," I added, "then Freddy, Bonnie and the rest will grow with time. Now they're small pieces, but if we don't find answers fast, there will be more and more of them, and less and less of us."

"So what that big bozo wants," concluded Sarah, "is to turn us all into his little gang of psychos. Then we will be no different from him."

A thoughtful silence took over the room. Ferny raised his hook, turning it around as he glanced at it dreamily with guilty eyes. "I don't want to be a killer." he sighed.

"None of us do professor," replied Sarah, "that's why we need everyone's help, including yours." She put her yellow wing-hand and his broken red shoulder, "Can we count on it?"

Ferny raised his head, looking with uncertainty at us. "I'll try." he mumbled.

"That's more like it!" she cheered.

"Okay guys," I called out, "There's one last thing I want to say. Jack wasn't taken over like us. That's why Bonnie hates him; I think he sees him as a threat to the 'game'. Maybe Jack has the key to figuring this whole thing out."

"But you can't go to him now." said Sarah, "It's past 8 AM; we're about to open." I felt a knot grow in my throat as I remembered why we went to her and Ferny in the first place.

"Umm, about that…" muttered my brother awkwardly before clearing his throat, "we, uh, are going to close."

"What?" asked Sarah innocently, "For how long?"

Our dark gazes must've answered her question, because she let her head fall between her arms in sad disbelieve. "But…" she whispered, "if the place gets shut down for good…"

"They may scrap us, yes." concluded Sean.

A heavy weight came upon our shoulders while these words rung in our heads. My ears drooped down sadly as I looked how Ferny's and Sarah's eyes filled up with sadness.

"But," sighed my brother, "we can't give up yet. Let's just wait and see what happens. Maybe it won't be as bad as we think, right?"

"Right." we replied.

"I, umm…" I said after a moment, scratching my head, "I'll go and talk to Jack… if he lets me."

"When you see him," added Sarah hastily, "tell him that I miss checking his drawings." I remembered with amusement how Sarah gave extensive feedback on Jack's circles and X's scrabbled on paper like she was some kind of famous painter.

"Don't worry, I will." I waved back at her as I turned around and started walking along the hallway, picturing how Jack would react to the bad news. But when I was getting close to the storage room a conversation that a couple of employees were having in the break room made me stop in my tracks.

"…on her older son's birthday." said one of the voices, "It was a few days ago; September 2 I think. He was one of the kids that were murdered."

I entered the room, walking in as robotically as I could. The two men, one in the standard purple and white shirt and the other in blue overalls, glanced causally at me before talking again.

"As I was saying," continued the man in the shirt whilst pointing at a newspaper on a table, "I'm surprised you didn't hear about it."

The man in overalls shrugged. "There's too much messed up stuff happening in the world nowadays, so forgive me if I missed out on that. But honestly I can't blame her."

I discretely walked closer to the newspaper on the table and peeked at it. On one corner, under a little headline, I saw a black and white picture of three faces I knew very well: mine, my brother's and Mom's faces. I remembered taking the picture with them a few months ago, when Sean had just graduated from elementary.

"Yeah…" whispered the man in the shirt, "a person can only take so much."

A strange feeling came over me as my eyes slowly went up to the headline of the short article.

_Clara Williams, mother of two Fazbear tragedy victims, commits suicide by hanging herself in her apartment._

My knees just gave out under my own weight. I clutched at my chest, where I felt like someone ripped away something from my body, something warm and human, leaving behind a painful and cold emptiness. I just lay still on the floor, while the words of the headline echoed in my head.

"What the hell happened to Bonnie?!" shouted the man in the shirt behind me.

"Okay, calm down." hissed the man in overalls, "Let's just get the manager and the mechanic… umm… Erik and Fritz right?" Their footsteps quickly faded away as they jogged down the hall.

"M-Mom…" I whimpered, seeing her face and smile in front of me once again, "Why?" I cried softly, "W-Why did you do t-this Mom… we're alive… WE'RE ALIVE!"

I punched the floor again and again, ignoring the pain. I remembered the message I left for her in the cassette tape. "If y-you had just waited a b-bit more…" I sobbed as I covered my face. "We c-could've b-been t-together…"

I cried silently on the floor, remembering all the happiness and pain we had been through with my brother as the gaping hole in my chest grew wider. The hugs, the kisses, the bedtime stories, the warmth of her hands as she grabbed my cheeks, her brave smile that she always wore whenever we visited Dad's grave… they were gone.

And would never come back.

* * *

After a few minutes, I heard some familiar heavy footsteps coming from the hallway.

"Don, are you okay?" asked my worried brother as he approached the break room. "I heard some employees say that there was something wrong with you."

A feeling of anxiety crept into me as the footsteps got louder and louder. "He's the one keeping us going." I thought, "If he finds out, things will never be the same."

I pulled myself up using the table. Blinded by grief, I hastily grabbed the newspaper, looked at the three smiling faces one last time with an aching heart, and crumbled them. I tossed the ball of paper at the back of the room, right as Freddy's figure appeared at the door.

I looked up at Sean as he slowly walked towards me. "Don?" he asked, coming by my side, "What's wrong private?"

"What?" I replied, trying to sound as casual as I could, "Nothing's wrong brother."

His eyes looked straight through me. "Don," he said flatly, "you can tell me anything_. _We're family; we have nothing between us."

His words made me shudder inside, but I knew I had to keep it from him. "You d-don't wanna k-know…" I sobbed as he put his huge hand on my trembling shoulder.

"Please," he whispered softly, "just tell me."

I looked up at his blue eyes that were glowing with the same hope and love as they did when he was alive. Thinking about the amount of pain he'd have to go through if he found out about Mom's death, I thought I was making the right decision.

"I-I'm worried…" I sobbed, "about J-Jack. He's b-been so sad l-lately, and so a-alone. He really m-misses his f-family."

My brother let out a sad chuckle. "We all do Don. But as long as we're together, I'm sure there's nothing we can't…"

We froze on the spot as three employees stormed into the room. I recognized two: Erik, the manager and Fritz, who held the remote that was used to control us during the shows. The third one was the man in blue overalls.

"Erik," started Fritz, "are you sure you want to do this now, and not later?"

Erik nodded. "Well, now that those bastards are closing us down, it doesn't make much of a difference." He turned his head and looked at us with the same disgust as the clients did. "Besides they've been a nightmare since we reopened. Did you hear the noises their voiceboxes make sometimes?"

The man in overalls nodded obediently. "And now they're acting weird when they're in free-roam mode." he said gravely, "And the stench! You've never told me before that their fur can stink like that when it's not cleaned every few days."

Erik shrugged innocently at the man's words, while Fritz' eyes darted away guiltily. "Now you know." said the manager flatly, "But hey, they had a good run at least." The three of them looked directly at my brother and me.

Sean turned around immediately, and standing in front of me like a living wall, struck a defiant pose at the three employees. "Don," he whispered, "I know we said that no one could find out about us, but I am _not _gonna let them throw us away."

"Brother," I replied as quietly as possible, "we can't do anything. If they find out things will only be worse." But he just kept on standing tall and straight in front of me, just like Dad always stood with us in the yellowed photos we grew up with.

Erik raised an indifferent eyebrow. "See what I mean?" he asked to no one, "They've never acted like this before. Well, only one time, but that was three years ago. Anyways," he turned around and looked at Fritz with a piercing gaze, "I know that _someone _had to mess with them."

Fritz chuckled nervously at his superior. "I-I didn't Erik!" he stammered, "That was j-just an accident!"

Erik grinned with satisfaction at the fear of his employee. "All I know," he said innocently, "is that we found you tampering with the direction and orientation circuits a few months ago. You're a good mechanic, so we decided not to fire you…" his voice changed from almost friendly to downright threatening, "as long as you didn't do it again."

"I'm telling you Erik," said Fritz with a peeping voice, "it really wasn't me."

"Okay, okay, I believe you." replied Erik as he out up his hands in a don't-get-mad-at-me gesture, "You know how to handle the remote, so just do what we asked you to do."

With a sad sigh, Fritz flicked the red switched on the remote, and immediately I felt a familiar, painful strain enter my joints.

"Okay, free-roam mode is deactivated, right?" asked the man in overalls. Fritz nodded.

"Alright Freddy," cooed the man as he came closer to us, rubbing his hands together, "you're going to take a little nap."

Sean couldn't hold it back anymore. "Don't. Touch. US!" he growled, clenching his fists at the approaching staff member.

The man in overalls suddenly jumped back. "Ugh, that voicebox thing is horrible! It sounds like someone's dying in there."

Erik shrugged. "That's what I said. Anyways, let's get this over with and move on to the others. Fritz?"

At his command, the young mechanic pressed a few buttons on the remote and put his thumbs on the two joysticks. Freddy's legs obeyed and my brother started to walk away from me.

"Don't do it!" he begged as he turned his back to the man in overalls, forgetting that no one but me could hear him.

"Brother!" I cried out in panic, trying desperately to move while I saw the man opening the power port on Sean's back. As he stuck his large hand in the opening the blue glow of my brother's eyes started to flicker rapidly.

"I'm begging you…" I heard him groan sleepily one last time, "Don't hurt… my… friends… plea-"

All light left his eyes when the man tore the battery out of the brown torso. He put it down to a side as Freddy's limp body, now without any power to remain standing, fell sideways like dead weight. I looked at the animatronic body tossed on the floor, thinking that I heard the last words of my brother.

"Okay," wheezed the man in overalls as he stood up and looked at me, "you're next in line buddy."

Those words took me back almost a month, to a private party room where five children entered but none left. I didn't see the man in blue overalls walk towards me; I saw Walther with his purple security guard jacket instead. But this time there was no one to protect me.

"So that's all." I thought, "We're gonna be turned off and dumped in the same landfill as our corpses." Somehow the irony of this made me chuckle as I turned my back towards the man, unable to resist the control of the remote. I couldn't fight back; I wouldn't even if I could. There was nothing left worth fighting for. I betrayed Jack's trust in me, we killed an innocent man, I lost the brother I needed and the mother I loved.

I felt the man tug open my back. My vision started to flicker as his fingers touched my power cables. A deep feeling of tiredness came over me. Maybe this eternal sleep was for the best. Maybe it was the best thing we would get.

The man cursed angrily as he pulled at my battery. "Take it." I thought calmly as my vision started to grow darker, "Just take it." Right before the battery finally snapped loose, I tried to picture one last happy memory: my friends, my family and me, together and happy… but I couldn't do it. The last image that came to my mind was that of Mom hanging from her neck in a dark room. And then, there was nothing.

* * *

End of Tape 1.

* * *

**A/N: **Why tapes? Check out the very first paragraph of Ch.1 if you don't remember.

This was one of the bleakest chapters in the whole story. Nevertheless, feedback is appreciated as always. Next week: same story, new tape. The story will eventually take a much-needed lighter tone and we will meet some new guys I've been looking forward to writing since day one. Who are they? Well, they have a thing for nursery rhymes regarding collapsing British infrastructure...


	12. something new

**A/N: **Hey guys, sorry if I'm a tad bit late. I had so many ideas and so much stuff I wanted to put in this chap, that I couldn't decide what to put in here and what to leave for the next chapter. That, and I had _very _little time to write this week; I had to strip myself to my chair today to get this done.

One thing: if a Sunday goes by and there is no update, check my profile to see why this is and when the story will be updated. If there is nothing on my profile, that means that I couldn't update because my Wi-Fi took a sabbatical.

So, without more bla-bla-bla here's the first chap of Tape 2. Happy reading, and let me know what you thought of it!

PS: I have _no idea_ how to pirate accent.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Something new...**

A cold hand scraped clumsily against the inside of my back before closing the cover of my power port. As it did I felt how my body and mind slowly woke up with the electricity that flowed through me.

"What… happened?" I thought, unable to see or hear anything. "Why am I so… tired?" Little by little my last painful memories came back to me. "Mom is… dead?" Just thinking those words made me feel the same gut-wrenching pain that I felt before being shut down. Then I remembered the way my brother's body collapsed on the floor after the employee took out his battery. I lost him as well; I lost all of them. I felt myself sinking into despair, when I heard some distant noises. Noises that then turned into words that I could only hear in my head.

"…working…" said one of the faint voices nervously, "… bad … legs won't … cables gone …" As my hearing improved I heard a familiar foot-tapping while these words were said.

"Ferny." I thought.

"… there must be something… can do." said another, anxious voice, "…make Don wake up."

"Brother?" I moaned weakly, "Are you…" I couldn't keep going; just speaking felt like running a marathon.

"Oh thank goodness." wheezed Sean, "Ferny, can you tell the others?" I heard some quick footsteps, followed by a door that opened and closed.

"We were beginning to think you wouldn't make it." said my brother with relief. "How do you feel?"

"Very… sleepy…" I yawned, feeling how my little energy leaked away. "Can't… see…"

"C'mon private, just stay awake a bit longer." whispered Sean gently but urgently as he shook my shoulder, when I heard a door creak open again.

"Hey! Glad you're here!" called out my brother, his voice fading out as I started to drift off again, "He woke up but he's still very weak. Can you keep an eye on him?"

"No problem Mr. Freddy!" answered the cheery and distant voice of a small boy.

"Alright, thanks TB." replied Sean, right before I fell asleep again.

* * *

"Hello?" whispered the unknown childish voice, "Helloooo?"

This time I didn't feel so exhausted while waking up. Soon, my sight came back to me. I managed to make out a blurry figure standing in front of my sitting, slumped over body. His glowing green eyes were staring down at me with friendliness and wonder.

"Umm… hello." I groaned, seeing how the figure took a familiar shape. "Who are y-" Baffled, I realized that he was… me?

"He's awake!" shouted out the figure, turning around quickly and skipping to the door, "Mr. Bonnie is awake!"

He ran out of the room before I could ask him anything. I slowly looked around the unknown place with my hazy sight. Black drops of oil smeared the checkered tiles and walls that had power cables hanging from the ceiling like vines. There were some tools and spare parts on a shelf that was right under a camera; it was a bit like the maintenance room I knew, only bigger. I got the feeling that we were in a different place than the pizzeria I knew.

Then I looked at my body.

I've seen prettier ship wrecks.

My exoskeleton was dented and broken all over my torso and legs; my left foot was completely uncovered. With a big effort I managed to raise my right hand that was also just naked metal. But when I tried to do the same with my other hand, I realized that I couldn't feel my left arm. I turned my head and looked at the bundle of wires sprouting from my left shoulder.

"It's gone." I whispered in disbelieve, right as the door opened again.

"…then I saw his lights come back on again," said the small blue Bonnie as he opened the door for my brother and Ferny, "and he just woke up." The three figures walked to me. Ferny's red exoskeleton was mostly gone, while Sean's fur was darkened with oil and dirt. He limped behind the other two; his left kneecap was missing. Huffing, he leaned on the side of the wall I was sitting against.

"You okay Fred?" asked Ferny. His voice sounded a bit grave and hoarse, like he was imitating the pirate accent that Foxy used during shows.

"I'm fine Foxy," panted my brother, "it's just my leg."

"Why aren't they calling each other by their real names?" I thought, "They're… themselves. They _were _themselves a moment ago and their eyes look normal."

"Are you feeling better now Bon?" asked Sean after a few moments.

"Brother?" I asked, "Why are y-" He shut me up with a small, well-timed subtle kick.

The small Bonnie looked up at Sean. "Brother?" he repeated.

"You see TB," my brother cleared his throat, "Mr. Bonnie and I have been friends for so long, we're like brothers. So he likes to call me like that sometimes," he looked down at me with stern blue eyes, "even if there's no need for it." he hissed.

"Can ya stand up Bonnie?" asked Ferny with his fake accent. I nodded, pushed myself of the wall, leaned forward, tried to stand up, realized how weak my legs were and fell head-first on the floor like a ragdoll.

"Guess that means no." he sighed. He held out his stripped hand in front of me.

"I'M FINE!" I snarled, swatting the hand away. The room fell into an awkward silence as the three pairs of eyes looked down at me with surprise. "I'm… I'm fine," I muttered, feeling my ears droop down in shame, "I just need a moment." I pushed my torso up with my one arm and tried to shift my weight to my knees, but not having a left arm made me lose my balance. I growled in frustration as I fell on my right side, just to look up and see the same bare metallic hand above me.

"C'mon lad," insisted Ferny, "just grab me hand and let's get ya goin'."

I reluctantly grabbed his only hand with my only hand and used what little strength I had to get up with his help.

"There ya go." he groaned as I leaned myself on his broken shoulders, taking a few shaky steps towards the open door. Sean himself limped out of the room and waited for us on the bleakly colored hallway.

"Could you please tell me what's going on?" I whispered harshly to Ferny.

"Shh, just play along." he hissed back with his normal voice as the little blue animatronic came close to us, "We'll explain everything later."

"Hi Mr. Bonnie!" chirped the smaller figure as he skipped by my side, looking up at me with awe, "My name is Toy Bonnie," he let Ferny and me exit the room first, "but you can call me TB!" he came back in front of us and held out his hand to me. "Oh, umm… sorry!" he giggled shyly and put down his hand, "I forgot that… umm… your arm…" His eyes and his ears went down as he started to rub his elbow anxiously.

"That's okay." I said, not really listening to what TB was saying. All my attention went to the unknown hallway and cheery posters on the walls. As if reading my mind, TB hopped to the posters of the animatronics that looked a bit like Freddy and Chica.

"Toy Freddy and Toy Chica," he said with pride, "off course you can call them TF and TC."

"How original." I muttered bitterly.

"Listen Brandon," whispered Ferny as TB started talking to my brother while we all walked down the hallway, the last two quite ahead of Fer and I, "just try to be nice to him and the other Toys, okay? I get that you're feeling bad because of your state"

"I'm not mad because I have a few missing bolts here and there." I snapped back.

"Then what is it?"

"…Nothing." I said as nonchalantly as possible, realizing that I had to change the topic of the conversation. "I thought you weren't good with little kids?"

Ferny chuckled lightly. "Hey, I'm trying. It's the least we can do after they put back our batteries."

"So these guys can work and think for themselves?"

"Did you actually believe they were _real _robots?"

I shrugged as well as I could with my only arm still around Fer's shoulders. "Umm… I didn't really think about what they were." I answered dumbly.

Ferny looked sternly at me. "They're like us." he whispered as quietly as he could, "They too are kids who were murdered, but they're much younger. Between five and six I think."

I looked back at him in horror. "But… who could…"

"Who do you think?"

I growled furiously as I saw Walther's smirking face in front of me.

"So naturally they too have a blood seal in their bodies," continued Ferny, "and in that book. But here's the thing: they don't remember _anything _from before they woke up in those bodies_. _They actually believe they are the new animatronics of Freddy's and they think we're just the original Fazbear Gang." He started to whisper extra quietly since we were arriving at the end of the hallway where Sean and TB were waiting for us by a grey door. "We'll explain everything later." he repeated.

I looked back at the dimly lit hall and at the slightly open door of the maintenance, or as the door read, parts &amp; service room. For one moment I thought I saw a dark figure crouching in the corner of the room, inspecting me with empty white eyes. Surprised by the scare I stumbled out of Ferny's grip and steadied myself against the closest wall.

"What's wrong Mr. Bonnie?" asked TB, worried.

"I… I saw something." I wheezed, looking back at the service room; but there was no one there.

"Bon, you just woke up." soothed my brother as he came close to me, "It's a dark room, you're confused, and you saw a random shadow that looked like something scary. Try to take it easy, alright?"

I nodded with a head that felt strangely lighter. Just to be sure, I threw another quick glance at the room that was empty a few minutes ago, and still was.

"Yeah," I sighed, calming myself down, "it was just a shadow."

* * *

The first thing that surprised me was seeing a carousel in the middle of the game area.

"Wouldn't that work better outdoors?" I thought.

The next thing that surprised me was a banging sound coming from the walls. Baffled, I saw how the panel of an air vent close to a far corner of the large room shot out of its place. A bright yellow figure crawled out of the vent, dusted her knees, stood up, and threw her fists into the air.

"First place!" cheered Toy Chica, noticing us after a few seconds. "Oh, hi guys!" she waved at us with enthusiasm, and then covered her small orange beak in surprise when she saw me. "Mr. Bonnie, I'm so happy you woke up!" she squealed, "We were all very worried about you!"

I looked at my brother, expecting an answer. He looked back at me, expecting my question.

"You were badly damaged Bon, the worst out of us all." he explained. "The new guys were kind enough to recharge and reconnect our batteries. If it weren't for them, we would've never woken up. But you were in such a terrible condition that you wouldn't wake up even with the battery. It took us; Foxy, the Toys and me, six days of work to get you going. Honestly, we were beginning to lose faith."

Ferny nodded. "Aye. Rewire this, replace that, check the fuses, test the hydraulics, reconnect the battery…"

He was interrupted by more banging coming from the walls. The panel of a second air vent that was slightly closer to me launched itself off the wall. A chubby brown animatronic groaned as he pushed himself out of the now clear vent.

"Did I beat her?!" panted Toy Freddy, turning his back to us just to see the yellow Toy.

"In your dreams Boo-Boo!" mocked TC, "Maybe if you weren't so fat…"

"Shut up Small Bird!" growled TF before turning around and seeing us. "Hey friends." he said with sudden class and gentleness, tipping his top hat at me. "Mr. Bonnie, I'm glad to see that you're recovering well."

"Umm, t-thanks." I babbled, still trying to process everything that was happening.

"Mr. Freddy." added TF as he tipped his hat to my brother.

"Junior." replied Sean, tipping his own hat.

"Wait!" huffed a familiar voice from a third air vent, this one right in front of me, "I'm… argh… almost…"

A large yellow elbow bashed open the panel, and out popped the head of Chica with an unhinged jaw full of wires and teeth. I let out a little yelp at the terrifying sight.

"Nice to see you too Bran… Bonnie." snorted Sarah.

"Y-Your hands… your f-face …" I stammered as she crawled into the room with her elbows, dragging the masses of wires blooming out of her wrists along the floor.

"Well," she focused her furious purple eyes on me, "at least I have a face airhead!"

The large room went completely silent. Someone faked a cough.

"Umm, Chica," said my brother, "we haven't really told him"

"Oh, hehe…" chuckled Sarah nervously, "Well, you see Bonnie, I didn't, well…"

I touched my lower jaw with my only hand and encountered emptiness where my upper jaw and snout should be.

"I'm sorry." whispered Sarah as her counterpart and TB helped her get on her feet, "I thought you knew already."

"So, my face is gone." I said flatly. She nodded. For some reason the amount of stuff that I was being told and that was happening around me made it seem like a small deal. After all I saw my body more as a curse than a blessing, and I knew that my friends felt more or less the same way.

"Again, I'm sorry." repeated Sarah.

I shrugged. "Getting back the arm would be much more helpful than the face anyways."

"Glad to hear that. So…" Sarah changed back to her normal tone, and pointed at the yellow and brown Toys with her broken wrists, "I'm sure you met Toy Freddy and Toy Chica, TF and TC, or as I like to call them TGIF and KFC."

"Hey!" snapped back TF and TC while Sarah let out a cruel little chuckle.

"Sorry," she laughed, "it just doesn't get old."

My overloaded mind suddenly realized that we were missing someone.

"Where is Ja… umm… Bucky?" I asked bitterly. Somehow, calling him that felt a bit like betraying who he was.

"He's alright, more or less." said my brother as we all started to walk towards a door in the corner of the big room, myself still leaning on Ferny's shoulders.

"What do you mean with more or less?" I demanded, panic creeping into me.

"He's a _bit_ damaged," answered Sean uncomfortably, "but we're taking good care of him."

"Why do I feel like it's more than that?" I thought anxiously, ignoring his reassurance.

"Mr. Bucky is very quiet." said TB with a hint of sadness, walking to my side as we approached the corner of the game area and a door that read Prize Corner, "Sometimes I think he's mad at us." A wave of guilt came over me as I remembered what happened that horrible night.

Sean walked in front of us and grabbed the door handle. "Bon, remember this." he said with sudden seriousness, "You're not a baby… and with that I mean a new animatronic, anymore. So stay calm and bear in mind you're about to meet a friend and an ally, okay?"

I nodded with annoyance while Sean opened the door. The first thing I spotted in a dark corner was a huge present box, the sight of which immediately brought back some bad memories.

"This be an old sailors meeting only," said Ferny to the three Toys with his faked accent, "sorry lads." The Toys answered with a harmonic "aww" as they sat on the floor.

Reluctantly, I followed Ferny, Sarah and my brother into the room. As soon as Sean closed the door the top of the box opened, and out came the dark, slender figure with needle-like fingers and a smiling skull-white face that always terrified the four year old me.

"Hey Pups!" called out Sarah behind me.

"Hi Sarah," replied the juvenile voice of Marionette as he heaved a leg out of the box, "hi guys."

"P-P-P-P…" I stammered, feeling how my legs weakened with terror as the figure's pinpoint white eyes looked at me.

"Hey Pizza Boy," he chuckled warmly, "glad you remember me."

* * *

**A/N: **Kudos to those that got the reference to Ch.4 at the end! And as always please let me know if you spotted an error. Have a good week and take care.


	13. The three seals

**A/N: **He he. Umm, yeah. Time management. Could anyone help me with that?

Well, this one was fun but hard to write, since we will be tying up some loose ends I've left around from Ch.1 up to Ch.10. I'll be explaining more personal theories and we will _finally _know the whole truth behind the blood seals, Jeremy's role in the murders, the Toys and such. Basically you will either like this chap or it will bore you to death.

Also, your reviews this past week... wow. Guys, I'm speechless. Thank you _so_ much! I'm happy you're enjoying the story and I invite you to keep letting me know if you're liking it or not. Well, here it is. A key chapter in figuring out the story that gave me a few headaches. Happy reading and happy... Monday? Wow, it's late.

* * *

**Chapter 13: The three seals**

"…P-P-Puppet!" I finished, fear completely overtaking me as I pushed myself out of Ferny's grip, only to lose my balance and fall on the floor again.

"Umm, is he okay?" asked Marionette while I crawled away from him on my back, whimpering away in fear.

"He's not afraid of much," groaned my brother as he started to limp towards me, "but I seriously think you traumatized him when he was four."

Marionette shrugged innocently. "Not my fault. And it _definitely _doesn't justify that pizza slice to my face."

My back hit the corner of the room, the intense terror making me pant heavily while my sight became hazy again. Paralyzed, I stopped thinking about anything but the slender figure of my nightmares that was suddenly very real and alive.

"I think he's seriously having a panic attack." said the distant voice of Sarah. "Can you help him out Pups?"

Nodding, Marionette came out of the box completely. The tapered ends of his legs seemed to hold his tall figure in a supernatural balance; he was almost floating. "I didn't want to do this," he sighed, "but I guess it's the only way to calm him down."

Feeling like my mind was about to break down I saw how Marionette pointed at me with one of his hands, while a faint red glow appeared on his chest. When that happened all my fear started to just… disappear. My panicked panting slowed down until it stopped and I could think more or less clearly. After a few seconds I felt exactly like I shouldn't feel at that moment: calm and normal.

"What… did you do to me?" I asked flatly, looking up at the black puppet that suddenly didn't scare me anymore.

"Help you." replied Marionette, putting down his hand while the red glow disappeared. "I'm temporarily blocking your ability be afraid."

"You're messing with my mind?!" I demanded, pushing up my torso until I was sitting against the wall.

"Yes I am, to be honest. You have a bunch of stuff to catch up to and I don't think you would listen to me otherwise."

"What is he talking about?" I asked my brother, feeling how my fear against the Puppet turned into anger.

Sean let out a long sigh before leaning against a wall close to me. "First of all, it's been quite a while since the last place closed down. We're in a new restaurant; 'The new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza'." he mocked, imitating Freddy's heavy voice.

"We were out of it for almost ten months Brandon." added Ferny, "It's the 29th of June, of 1987."

"Ten months." I repeated, letting my head fall down. So much time…

"Okay, I'm getting tired of this!" growled Sarah suddenly. I raised my head and saw her looking up at the panel of an air vent on the ceiling with anger. There were some metallic banging and clanking noises coming from it.

"BB! Mangle!" she shouted, "Get outta there! We can _all _hear you!" But all she got back from the ceiling was the thin, guilty giggle of a boy. "Alright… you asked for it! I will count to three, and if you don't get down here, I will ask Mr. Mario to pull you both out of there!"

"One…" The childish giggle was replaced with the nervous mumbling of a little girl.

"Two…" The noises came back and started getting louder.

"Thr-" The panel dropped down and a fox head full of sharp teeth on top of a twisted endoskeleton swung out of it. If it weren't for Marionette blocking my fear I would've let out a little yelp at the sight.

"S-Sorry…" mumbled the shy girlish voice of Mangle as she hooked a leg to a corner of the ceiling and swung herself skillfully to the door. "Oh, hello Mr. Bonnie." she whispered, looking down at me, "I'm happy you woke up." She turned her head towards Sean and Sarah. "Hi Mr. Freddy, hi Ms. Chica, I'm sorry."

"Mangle," started Sarah, "if you're really sorry why do you keep spying on us with BB…" her soft voice became a threatening growl, "…who by the way still hasn't come out yet!"

More banging followed before two glowing blue eyes looked down at us from the dark vent. "Hello?" said BB innocently, holding one of his thin arms out of the hole in the vent that the panel left.

"Balloons," sighed Marionette patiently, "please stop overhearing our meetings. Mangle, stop helping him get in the vents."

"Sorry Mr. Mario." replied the two troublemakers. Mangle hooked an arm-like thing unto BB's fingerless hand, swung his short round body out of the ceiling, and laid him on the floor with one smooth sweep… right in front of a stern-looking Ferny.

"Hi cap Foxy," whispered BB, looking up at the figure that towered over him, "we didn't hear anything, I promise! We were just curious and…"

"Curiosity be killin' cats lad." interrupted Ferny. "Go play with yer friends 'n wait fer us, alrighty?"

"Alright captain Foxy. Sorry captain Foxy." muttered BB mechanically as he and Mangle left Prize Corner through the door and closed it.

I reached my limit. "Okay," I called out angrily, "we're all alone now, and I'm _sick _of not knowing what's going on. Anyone kind enough to enlighten me?"

"I asked your friends to bring you to me first," replied Marionette calmly, "so I could explain everything to you like I did to them. And I mean _everything._"

"Alright Puppet," I huffed, resting my arm on my lap, "I'm all ears."

* * *

"First of all, like Ferny said, it's been almost ten months since you were scrapped and the building you knew was shut down. But Fazbear Entertainment could still afford a new pizzeria to get rid of the bad reputation after your murders and new animatronics to replace the five of you because, as you remember, the clients were disgusted by your smell. Many of your parts were recycled to make and repair them, so that's why you're all looking a bit… yeah."

"Fast-forward to May of this year. This place opens up and it's a success; by then most people already forgot about your murders. The new versions are really popular with toddlers and small kids. Everything goes well until the 14th of June. You see, they had this old yellow suit in a back room from the days of Fredbear's. Not Bucky, but the rabbit. You guys remember?"

"Don is too young," answered my brother, "but if I think I had my sixth birthday party there; it was a small place. I remember Freddy pretty well and two other animatronics. I didn't realize Bucky was one of them."

"And the other was Spring the bunny. But Spring, Bucky and that first Freddy were all mechanical suits. Since Bucky was locked away with you in parts and service…"

"Jack." I interrupted rudely. "He has a name, and it's Jack Schmidt."

"Sorry, I forgot." replied Marionette nonchalantly. "Since _Jack _was locked away, and that old Freddy model was replaced long ago, the only possible disguise for Walther to use was Spring."

"You're telling me," I questioned, "that they just let Walther walk in here, get inside that suit, and kill five more kids?"

"More or less. With his old uniform he could've pretended to be a dayshift guard. The only people who've worked with the franchise long enough to recognize him are the manager and the head guard; Erik Grant and Dave Hobbs. The 14th was a Sunday, meaning that both of them had the day off. So the only thing Walther had to do was get into the back room, put on the suit, and lure the kids somewhere he could kill them; probably one of the party rooms. But now people have had enough. The police are much more involved in their case than yours, so this place is closed down until the investigation finishes. And apparently they're also tracking down previous employees with criminal records."

"But how do you know all these things?" I questioned again. "And why can't the Toys remember their human lives?"

"Ahh… here comes my part." Marionette closed the lid of his box and sat on top of it. "As you heard Walther say when Dave encountered him, you're not his first victims. Six years ago Fredbear's Family Diner closed down after a 14 year old boy was murdered right outside of it. That boy was me."

My ears rose up in astonishment. He had been like this for _six years?_

"After waking up in this body Walther offered me three choices. He could break my seal in the red book, erasing my soul; he could break the seal in my body, turning me into a Shadow; or…" Marionette let out a long, sad sigh, "…I could help him."

"Three years before your murders, Walther killed two more kids in the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza we knew. He bound one soul to Spring and the other to Bucky. But this time, he didn't follow the recipe he used with us. He wanted to… experiment." Marionette whispered that last word with hate and disgust. "He screwed up; the kids could not control the suits at all. So, he… got rid of them."

"He erased them?" I asked, horrified.

"No, he wiped off the seals in their bodies. Now all that's left of the two poor souls is darkness and pain; Shadows."

"And you helped him do that." I growled.

"Please, let me finish. A few months after that Walther became even more aggressive than before. He would often sneak into the building through the vents at night to yell at me about avenging his little brother that was killed in a shootout with the police. That's when he mentioned the names Brandon and Sean Williams for the first time."

A shiver went through my spine at the sound of our names. I remembered the day we woke up as animatronics for the first time, and how Walther said them briefly.

"Walther is a psychopath," continued Marionette, "but not an idiot. Erik and Dave knew that he killed the first three kids, including me, and Walther knew that they knew. He needed someone else to take the blame, at least until your case was closed. So he came up with a plan where I'd have to help him. Brandon, you and your friends were not random victims like me and the other seven. Walther was planning to kill you for months before he did. He entered the building at night through the vents and looked at all the payment records in the manager's office. He found out that the four of you were regular clients and that you always went to Freddy's for your birthday. Now, isolating the four of you so he could kill you with no witnesses was the next step. That's where your cousin Jeremy and I come into play."

He paused for a moment, letting me take it all in. "So that newscast was right; Jeremy truly was Walther's accomplice." I whispered with a broken voice.

"You could say so, but that doesn't mean he wanted to hurt you. Actually the whole plan depended on him wanting to give you a nice birthday surprise. Having seen in the records that Jeremy always gave you discounts Walther guessed that maybe you and him were close. A few days before your murders Walther went up to Jeremy pretending to be an uncle of yours. He bought four tickets for a private party with Bucky for you and your friends and asked Jeremy to keep it as a surprise for you."

"But the MC said I could bring four people with me, not three. I invited Jack because of that."

Marionette shrugged. "I guess that was just a casual mistake."

"So Jack died that night because some idiot wrote five instead of four on a piece of paper." I said bitterly.

"Maybe. In any case, Walther snuck in again through the vents to avoid the cameras and guards, hid himself in the closet of the private party room, attacked the man that was going to use the suit and used it instead…"

"…and killed us." I said flatly. "What did _you _do?"

"Well, to make sure Jeremy didn't give Walther's description to the police, he had to forget that description. I made him forget almost everything from that day."

"How the hell did you do that?" I demanded angrily.

"Using the same thing that Walther used to paralyze your bodies before and after your murders." Marionette got up and walked to the middle of the room. He unbuttoned his chest, letting us see the hollow inside. On the black fabric, glowing weakly, was his seal. Like Walther's it had something like a star on a corner of the triangle, but on the lower right corner instead of the left.

* * *

"This is the second special seal, the mind seal." said Marionette slowly. "To live on this world you need a body, a mind, and a soul. Our blood seals in the red book keep our minds and souls intact and the seals in these bodies bind our minds and souls to them. But three special seals are needed to make all the other ones work and to keep us in this world: one for the body, one for the mind, and one for the soul. If you have one of these special seals you can do certain things to the mind, soul or body of someone. Walther gave himself the body seal; that's how he paralyzed your bodies and gave you intense physical pain. He gave me the mind seal and made me use it to make Jeremy forget his appearance. Right now I'm using it to block your fear of me and to make the Toys forget their past lives."

"HOW CAN YOU DO SUCH A THING!" I cried out, clenching my only fist. "YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN WALTHER!"

Marionette's pinpoint eyes fired up with anger as they looked down at me. "Don't you _ever _dare to compare me with that monster again." he growled, slowly and menacingly. "That bastard cut open my throat, laughed while my tears streamed down my face, and turned me into _this._" He pointed a quivering finger at his own face. "I hate him as much as you do, maybe even more, and I'm ashamed of having helped him. So I'm telling you all of this to help _you._"

He let out a long sigh, his eyes dimming back while he calmed down. "You know," he chuckled sadly, "I was my first victim. Walther forced me to make myself forget my name. My. Own. Name." Marionette walked back to his box, opened it, and looked into it. "The only thing I have left to remember my past," he bent over and grabbed something that was in his box, "is this music box."

He raised the little thing so we could see it and wound it. A soft and melancholic tune echoed through the room. He let it unwind, and after a minute or two a cheery short melody replaced the last one.

"Do you remember how you felt right after waking up inside of Bonnie?" he asked while he put the music box back in its place. "Calm and logical, just like your friends. So much in fact that you thought something was off. You can thank me for that Pizza Boy, though I know you won't."

"You still haven't answered my question." I said coldly. "Why can't the Toys know the truth?"

"You can barely handle it. Your brother told me that right after I fully released your emotions you tried to get yourself erased by jumping out of a window. These are kids between five and six. Do you really think they're able to handle the fact that they are the souls of dead children trapped inside animatronic characters? As much as you dislike it, for their own good, you'll have to be Bonnie the animatronic in front of them. Keep Brandon Williams the human to yourself and your friends. Alright?"

I was about to shout 'no' when I felt the heavy hand of my brother in my shoulder. I looked up at his pleading blue eyes. "Please Don," he whispered, "it's annoying, but it really is the best thing for everyone."

"Alright Puppet." I muttered reluctantly, looking at the tall figure again. "Let's finish so I can get away from you and see Jack."

"Thank you." said Marionette with relief as he buttoned up his chest. "Now, there _must _be three special seals. But I have no idea who Walther gave the soul seal to. Taking out your batteries to check each of your bodies is dangerous, would take a lot of time and it would make the Toys suspicious. But I really believe that whoever has that third special seal could do some truly spectacular, and dangerous, stuff. Just think about it: having control over a soul itself."

"What would happen if a special seal is broken?" I asked.

"Depends on the seal. I think the ones in the red book are key; that's why Walther _always _carries the thing with him. I guess that breaking the mind seal, my seal, would destroy our minds. Breaking the soul seal would erase our souls. But breaking the body seal, Walther's seal, would break the bond between our minds and souls and these bodies. Since the special seals keep us in this world, we would just… leave. Pass away and be free."

"Pass away." I repeated, leaving behind a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Hug Mom and Dad again, and leave everything else behind. But it was better than staying here just to corrupt with evil.

"Brandon, are you okay?" asked Ferny, coming close to me and holding out his hook.

"Kinda. It's just… dying. It sounds so weird." I grabbed his hook and got myself on my feet with his help.

"Well, we died already." he said flatly as I leaned on his shoulder. "We just haven't moved on. But we have the tapes for our families."

"You found them?"

"Umm… no; we can't just look for them. How could we explain them to the Toys? But they must be here somewhere, and we figured out a way to look for them without having to reveal anything: hide and seek."

I looked at him, completely puzzled.

"Let me explain. We tell the five Toys to hide, saying that it's a game of hide and seek. We spread around the pizzeria and while they think we're just looking for them, we try to find the box with the tapes and more blank cassettes to record new messages."

"So we can say goodbye to our families before figuring a way to break Walther's seal inside the red book." I completed. Ferny nodded and helped me walk to the door.

"Hey, Puppet." I called out while my brother opened the door for us. "Can you please, umm, unblock my mind? I'll try not to have a panic attack this time."

Marionette let out a light chuckle. "I already did. Congratulations Pizza Boy, you're braver than I thought."

"Umm… thanks." I mumbled awkwardly with a nod, taking a step into the game area and hoping that the bad feeling I had about Jack's state was wrong.


	14. Promises and secrets

**A/N: **Here I am again... late. Sorry to keep you waiting again. This is the last time guys, last time. A bunch of unexpected stuff happened to me this week, but nevertheless here it is! A very bittersweet chap. Thanks for waiting, thanks for your reviews last time and thanks for being here again!

Oh, and before I forget: congratulations to the graduates! Well done guys, keep it up and I wish you the best of luck with whatever you're going to do now. And as always, let me know what you thought of this chap so I can make the next one better. Have a good week guys and happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 14: Promises and secrets**

The building was completely silent as I, still having to lean on Fer's shoulders to walk, passed the restrooms of the main hall followed by Sarah and my brother. We turned around the corner to the party rooms when suddenly…

"SURPRISE!" yelled the five Toys in front of us, making me stumble back and fall down in shock, dragging Ferny down with me. The Toys hopped, sprinted and swung towards us while we tried to get up.

"Mr. Bonnie!" shouted a worried TB, jumping by my side. "Are you okay?"

"More or less…" I groaned, rubbing my lower back. "What was that all about?"

"We have a surprise for you!" he chirped as TF appeared behind him, holding a regular walking cane in his hands.

"Mr. Bonnie, cap Foxy, hello again." he greeted, tipping his hat to us both. "This was in lost and found, and we thought it might help Mr. Bonnie walk on his own again." TB eagerly snatched the cane from the bear and put it in my open hand.

After a few minutes and with a lot of effort I managed to get my trembling body up on two feet with the help of the cane, making the Toys' eyes beam with happiness.

"How is it?" asked TC, blue eyes filled with excitement.

"Alright." I answered coldly, taking a few shaky steps towards the hall with the party rooms.

"Umm, Bon?" called out my brother behind me, "Isn't there anything you would like to say to the Toys?"

I hummed for a moment, pretending to think. "Not really." I said flatly, ignoring Sean's long sigh and the disappointment in the Toys' eyes.

"Mr. Bucky is in Party Room 3." mumbled TB with downed ears as he pointed at the door in the corner, "But he's… umm…"

Before he finished his sentence I was already swinging the door of the party room open. The dark room had multiple power cables hanging from the tall ceiling that we could use to recharge our batteries. A couple of long tables were folded neatly in a corner, right beside a small pile of tablecloths. And sitting on the floor in the other corner, his body slumped forwards slightly, was Jack. His waist and legs were covered with a striped tablecloth that served as blanket.

I closed the door before anyone else entered and took some slow steps towards his motionless body, every detail of its damage becoming visible as I got closer: the horribly darkened fur, the missing left ear and the stray wires popping out of his face and shoulders made me feel a knot in my throat.

"Jack?" I whispered softly, standing by his side, "It's me buddy. Are you alright?"

He slowly raised his damaged head to see me; his eyes didn't reflect anger or resentment anymore, only complete sadness and defeat. He then let his head fall and traced an X on the blanket.

"What's wrong?" I asked anxiously, using the cane to steadily kneel down by his side.

"M-My leg." he stammered, almost crying. "It's b-broken."

I pulled up the blanket and to my horrible surprise, saw that his right knee was completely destroyed. The only thing holding both halves of the leg together were some twisted wires and what remained of his kneecap.

He said what I feared with a thin, weak stammer. "I c-can't walk… or g-get up."

I shook my head in guilt and helplessness. "I'm sorry Jack, for everything." The cane in my hand started to tremble as I clenched my fist around it. "What a terrible job I've done in keeping you safe."

Jack only answered with a long sigh, his dim white pinpoints staring blankly at the mess that was his leg. "You w-were r-right." he said calmly. "I'm broken and u-useless."

"Don't talk like that!" I hissed back sternly, "I understand if you can't forgive me for what I did that night. But never, _ever _say that again. You're only useless if you see yourself that way, understood?"

Jack looked up at me with surprised eyes before nodding slowly.

"Good, now let's get you up."

Groaning, I got back on my feet. I leaned backwards against the wall on his right side, dropped the cane reluctantly and shoved closer to him. Then I carefully started leaning sideways to grab his arm with my right and only hand, but Jack winced away as soon as I touched him.

"I-I'm sorry." he said hastily. "I c-can't."

I sighed, straightening up against the wall again. Off course. Being like he is, he probably _could not _have others touching him besides a handful of people. And apparently, I wasn't on that list.

"Don't worry. Jack, you see that cane?" He nodded. "It's yours. If it helps you walk, then…"

"No." The sudden sharpness in his whisper surprised me. "You n-need it t-to walk."

"It's alright. I'll find a way."

"I d-don't want it." he insisted, "N-Not if you n-need it."

We both remained silent for a moment before I carefully slid down against the wall and sat on the floor besides him again.

"Listen to me Jack." I whispered decidedly, looking at his damaged leg. "I'll find a way to make you walk again."

"H-How?" he asked with an air of defeat, "The r-red one said that t-there are n-no spare p-parts left."

I hummed, scratching the back of my head as I thought. "Maybe they just didn't look hard enough. But even if Ferny's right, I'll somehow make you stand up and walk again. That's…" I sighed, thinking about all the promises I made and broke before pushing the doubts away. "That's a promise I will _not _break."

Jack quickly turned his head to look away from me. "I d-don't believe you." he muttered, bitterness replacing sadness in his voice.

"I'm no longer the thing that I was that night. I won't hurt you again, okay? I _will _fix y-."

"I don't b-believe you." repeated Jack, dropping and shaking his head while he traced another X on the blanket.

Before I could reply my brother opened the door and slipped quietly into the room, a strange look of disapproval in his eyes.

"Don," he said severely as he limped towards me, "can you tell me why you've been so rude since you woke up?"

I answered with an annoyed growl as I grabbed the cane's handle and began putting myself up on two feet. "Dunno. Oh, and just like you said brother… Jack's a _bit _damaged. Just. A. Bit."

Sean remained quiet, looking at me in the eyes with the mad-big-brother look I've known since I can remember. "Fine, I'll be the polite one today. I'm sorry for not telling you about Jack's leg. Happy?"

"No." I snarled, "You don't even care about him_._"

"Oh, _really_?" Stretching out the last word, Sean crossed his arms defiantly. "So he magically appeared here with a blanket and a charged battery?"

I huffed stubbornly, walking towards the door. "And with no one around him I suppose, since you were all too busy playing games with your new friends, right Mr. Freddy?"

"No Brandon." replied my brother calmly, "We were all too busy trying desperately to repair you, so you might have a chance to live again and be ungrateful and indifferent with _everyone _you've met."

I pushed the swelling feeling of guilt aside, wishing I could storm out instead of just walking with a cane like a weak old geezer. I was about to exit the room when my brother grabbed my hand holding the cane.

"You really believe I see you differently?" he said flatly, staring through me with his glowing blue eyes. "That I forgot who you are because of how you look? You're still my little brother, that gets moody when he's sad, that tries to be brave even though he's crying inside."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked nervously.

"You may not remember the tantrum that you put up when Dad died, but I do. And it reminds me a lot of how you're acting lately."

I tried desperately to keep my balance while I tried to picture myself telling Sean that Mom, our last bastion of hope, died on his birthday.

"Don," his voice changed from severe to soft, "if there is something you need to tell me, do it now."

With a heavy heart, I realized that my brother wasn't too weak to handle the truth. But I was too much of a coward to tell him.

"There's nothing." I said slowly, stepping away from Sean's grip. "There really isn't. I just… _hate _calling each other by the animatronic names." The last part, at least, was true.

My guilt became worse when my brother let out a chuckle of relief. "It feels a bit wrong, doesn't it? That's how we called each other when we…" he cleared his throat awkwardly, "when we, umm…"

"When we killed the guard." I said coldly, getting a surprised look from Sean. But there was no point in denying it. "How long before this place opens up and they hire another one?"

Sean shrugged. "Could be weeks, could be months. That's why we have to get along with Marionette and the Toys, got that Don?"

I nodded obediently before some heavy footsteps suddenly came running down to the party room.

"Hey guys," greeted Sarah cheerily, "I think we need some help."

My brother let out a long, painful sigh. "What's the prob-"

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" roared TB in the distance, "GIVE IT BACK!"

"Na na nana na, you cannot catch me!" teased Balloons, laughing and giggling mockingly.

"Ahh… if I could only kill him…" cooed Sarah.

"Don't forget that you were always the joker Sarah." replied Sean.

"Hey, I was fun. He's just annoying."

"Off course you were." I mumbled.

Sarah let out a little growl as she slowly turned around to face me. "What is up with you?"

"Talked to him already." interrupted my brother, "C'mon Don, I think you need to put it aside for a while."

"Put what aside?" I grumbled. "My name? Who I am?"

"That attitude doofus." nagged Sarah. "Look at me; I don't have hands. You think I care?" Her purple eyes brightened up in surprise at her own question. "Actually… yes I care. I really miss drawing, being able to help Ferny with repairs and, well, everything else. But those little bozos over there are a great help. By being their friends we can be something more than a bunch of miserable people, and they're great kids…"

"LET IT GO FATHEAD!"

"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN BUGS BUNNY!"

"…most of the time. Please, just give it a try. I swear," she giggled, "you'll never stop being the same old idiot in our eyes."

I let out the tiniest of snickers, and nodded. "Right back at you, Chica."

"Alright then," said my brother, "let's go before Ferny loses it."

Nodding, I turned around to see Jack staring curiously at us. "Don't worry buddy," I called out, "I'll get you walking again."

I closed the door, and followed my brother and Sarah as they walked into the main hall. "I don't know how I'll do it," I thought to myself, "but I will."

* * *

TB was right on Balloons' heels as we reached the game area, trying to grab him by the propeller on his cap while they both zigzagged around the tables and decorations. The distance between the two shortened, but the creativity of the insults kept growing.

"BLUEBOT!"

"PINNOCHIO!"

"FREACKY FRECKLES!"

"I kinda like that one!" shouted Sarah, "But you both better stop running or both of your batteries will run out!"

"What happened Chica?" asked Sean.

"He grabbed it again Fred."

BB was clumsily holding a red rose between both of his ball-shaped hands while he ran around the room, his usual grin looking even wider and smugger. Mangle was hanging from the ceiling, her yellow eye following every moment and movement of the pursuit, unlike a certain red figure that was sitting on a bench with a thick grey book in his hand.

"Foxy!" shouted my brother, making Fer's ears rise up but not his eyes, "What are you doing!?"

"Reading." replied Ferny nonchalantly, turning a page. "This guy is a genius! He can't even walk and he has these _amazing _ideas about time and the universe… it blows your mind."

"You're not gonna help are you? And where are Junior and TC?"

"I tried Fred. It's your turn now. They're drawing with Marionette. Good luck." With those last words Ferny let the book absorb him completely.

"Alright…" hummed Sean as he crossed his arms smartly. "Mangle, can you come down for a moment?"

"Umm… s-sure Mr. Freddy." she replied shyly.

Mangle anchored her feet into the ceiling and let her inverted body swing to us, her face now a few feet in front of my brother's. Sean got close to her and whispered something when he saw that TB and Balloons were far from them. Nodding, Mangle raised herself up slightly and waited until BB was right under her. Then, with a lightning fast swoop, she hooked the unsuspecting boy by his leg and held him upside-down in midair, making him drop the rose right into TB's hand.

"HEY! NOT FAIR!" wailed Balloons, trashing helplessly, "I thought you were cooler Mangle."

"S-Sorry BB," stammered back Mangle, "but that was m-mean of you."

"She's right!" cried out TB, clutching the rose close to his chest, "It's not yours!"

"Flowers are for little _girls_!" teased Balloons, tilting his head defiantly.

"I don't care! I like it!" TB looked closely at the rose, his bright green eyes shone with wonder, "It's the beautifullest thing I've ever seen. Have you seen it Mr. Bonnie?"

"No, not yet TB." I answered, "Can I see it?"

"Sure!" TB skipped by my side and held the artificial rose right in front of my face.

"He doesn't remember anything about the outside world." I thought, "He doesn't know about parks, forests, beaches… for him a cheap fake rose is the most precious thing in the world."

"I think it's very nice." I lied, "Keep it safe TB, alright?"

"Thanks Mr. Bonnie, I will!"

"Balloons," said my brother sternly, "apologize to TB for what you did."

BB didn't answer. His arms were hanging limply from his inert body; the glow in his eyes was gone.

Sarah chuckled with satisfaction. "I told him that he'd run out of battery, but did he listen? _No._ Hehe… that'll teach him."

"So, what now?" I asked. "Do we plug him back in now?"

"Umm… you know what?" answered my brother, seeing how Mangle carefully lowered and unhooked the unconscious little rascal. "Let's wait a few hours. We get a peaceful afternoon and he gets an early bedtime."

For reasons I still had to learn, everyone agreed.

* * *

It was nine o'clock, the Toys' bedtime. We carried BB back into the Kid's Cove where he and Mangle would sleep while TB, TF and TC went to 'bed' in Party Room 1. In this case, the 'bed' was the tablecloth each of us used as blanket. It wasn't much, but it was better than sleeping on the cold hard floor like we used to.

After getting to know the Toys and the new building better I spent at least an hour turning the service room upside down. But even after checking under each table and shelf, opening up every box and drawer, and even the tool cases there wasn't a _single _spare part that could be used to repair Jack's leg. Seeing that my brother could still walk with part of his knee missing, I asked if we could use some of my own parts to repair Jack before we went to sleep.

"Absolutely not!" replied Ferny, Sarah and my brother at the same time.

"Sean has some missing pieces and he can walk alright!" I snapped back.

"First of all Brandon," started Ferny, "Jack's knee isn't damaged, it's gone. Servos, pistons, gears, the joints… everything is missing. To get the pieces we need to make him walk again we'd have to literally tear off your arm or leg."

"Also," added my brother, "not having a kneecap hurts a lot already. It's a noble idea private, but it's not a smart one."

"Don't worry Brandon," said Sarah, seeing the disappointment in my eyes, "we'll figure something out. For now, focus on getting some rest. And remember: we have an important game of hide and seek tomorrow."

I nodded, remembering the box with the tapes. "Okay. Well, goodnight then."

"Goodnight!" replied Sarah and Ferny happily, stepping into Party Room 4. My brother opened the door of Part Room 3; Jack was sound asleep already. Sean and I took a power cord hanging from the ceiling and plugged ourselves in before lying on top of the improvised blankets.

"Hey Don," he whispered after a few moments, "do you think Mom is thinking about us?"

"I don't know brother," I replied quickly, trying not to cry, "but you can ask her when we find new tapes."

"And… do you think we'll see her again?"

"I know we will!" I said cheerily, masking my sobs. "And I can't wait for it."

* * *

**A/N: **I'd like to know if anyone can figure out the book that Ferny is reading. Little hint: it actually came out that year. Let me know if you do, and I'll see you guys next week... on time!


	15. Seeking Shadows

**A/N: **Look at me, _almost _being on time! Hey, it's something isn't it?

This was a really fun chapter to write. Since I had multiple ideas, it turned out a bit different from what I had in mind. I also managed to break my usual style a bit. It starts out quite slow, and then... well, you'll see ;)

Oh, and happy father's day to any father reading this! Enjoy this day fathers of the Internet, however few you might be. I also wanted to thank a certain old and loyal reviewer for the kind wishes, even tough I'm not a father myself. Heck, I'm just 17, but I really appreciate the gesture. I'm not a fan of mentioning usernames in chapters, but he knows who he is.

A special thank you from the heart for the support this past week. Guys, we just broke the 60+ reviews, 30+ follows, and 5K+ visits! Thanks so much for being here right now and happy reading. I'll see you on the bottom!

* * *

**Chapter 15: Seeking Shadows**

"Don?"

"Mm… mehh?"

"C'mon private, time to get up."

Refusing to open my eyes, I felt how the hand of my brother shook my shoulder to wake me up like it had done for years.

"Five more minutes, please?" I begged sleepily, twisting my body into heavenly comfort.

"That's what you said five minutes ago."

With a heavy sigh I opened my eyes to see the unfocused brown silhouette of my brother staring down at me with a bit of impatience.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, slowly stretching my arms and legs to start up my locked servos.

"Almost ten. We let you oversleep for a few minutes. Ferny and Sarah are waking up the Toys right now."

Yawning, I sat up and unplugged the power cable from my back before closing the panel. I turned my head and saw that Jack was already sitting against the wall with the blanket covering his feet, just like yesterday. He seemed lost in thoughts as he idly traced and retraced a circle on his blanket.

"Morning Jack," I greeted, "had a good night?"

Without looking up he gave me a quick little nod.

"Glad to hear that buddy." I said friendly, feeling reassured by the fact that he wasn't ignoring me anymore.

"So, here's what we're gonna do." started Sean as I looked back at him, "While we're playing hide and seek with the Toys we'll split up and try to find the box with the tapes. If we find them we'll just remember where they are and come back for them later when the place reopens." He turned around and grabbed my walking cane that was resting against the wall by my side. "Then we'll just do what we wanted to do in the first place: wait until a mail van comes and leave the box in a place where the mailman will pick it thinking that it's sent by the management. The box should be delivered to our families then."

I mumbled a thank you as my brother passed me the cane. "Why not look for them while the Toys are sleeping?" I asked.

"What if Balloons or someone else wakes up at night, decides to be a bit naughty and goes out for a night walk while we're on it?"

"True." I admitted, pushing myself up on two feet with the help of the cane and walking towards the door. Before stepping into the hallway I glanced quickly at the darkened figure of Jack, and sighed when yesterday's promise echoed through my head.

* * *

"Okay, these are the rules." said Marionette, clearing his throat as he idly walked around the center of the game area. "The Toys will get three minutes to hide anywhere they want in the building, including the vents, and are allowed to move around after the four Originals start looking for them. If an Original spots a Toy he has to yell 'I caught, say… TC!'. Then the Toy has to come back to me, the referee. If after one hour the Originals can't find the five Toys, the Toys win. Sounds good?"

"YEAH!" roared Balloons, "You're going down!"

"Yeah right, keep dreaming inside that big ball head of yours." taunted back Sarah.

"Good luck Mr. Freddy, good luck friends…" said TF with confidence, tipping his hat at us, "you're gonna need it."

"Right back at you Junior." replied my brother, tipping back his hat.

TB didn't say anything; he was too busy holding the frontal plate of his exoskeleton open and trying to tape his rose to the inside of it.

"Oh, and Foxy," called out Marionette, "please drop the book for a minute."

Sighing, Ferny stood up from his little bench, closed the book and laid it neatly where he was sitting. I read the front cover: 'A brief history of time. From the big bang to black holes. Stephen W. Hawking.'

"Ready?" shouted Marionette enthusiastically, seeing that TB had finished. "And the game begins… NOW!"

Sarah, Ferny, Sean and I turned around immediately to face the wall of the game area, while we heard some rushed footsteps and excited laughter. After a minute or two, we heard some doors open and close in the distance, along with faint banging coming from somewhere in the walls.

"Time's up guys." called out Marionette behind us after another minute, "You have an hour to find them."

"The tapes or the Toys?" I asked.

"Ideally, both." huffed Sarah proudly, "I'm sure all five of them are hiding in the vents, they're basically a maze. It'd be fun to actually beat them."

"Okay, how about we first check the rooms for the tapes and then we destroy the Toys?" suggested Ferny.

"Agreed." said my brother. "Sarah and I will check the kitchen, prize corner, the kid's cove and bathrooms."

"Bathrooms?" I questioned.

"Hey, let's leave no stone unturned." replied Sean. "Who knows? Maybe someone thought it was a box with toilet paper or something. Can you two check the rest of the rooms?"

Ferny and I nodded. Wishing us good luck, Sarah and Sean turned around, and walked and limped past Marionette to inspect the Kid's Cove.

"Brandon, I got an idea." said Ferny after a moment, walking over to the bench where he was reading and pulling it away, revealing the panel of an air vent. "This leads to the security office; Balloons likes to use it sometimes as shortcut. Just take a left and a right turn and you'll be there."

I looked on as Ferny pulled the panel away. "Umm, I was never one for tight spots." I laughed nervously.

"Common Brandon, we only have one hour to find the tapes and I'd like to beat the Toys in something for once."

"Alright then." I sighed, walking over to Ferny and going on my knees in front of the open vent. I laid down on my belly and started to push myself into the tight space with my feet while I squeezed the cane's handle nervously.

"I'll meet you there in twenty minutes or so." echoed Ferny's fading voice in the vent, "I'll check the service and party rooms."

"A-alright." I stuttered, hearing how he put the panel back in its place along with the bench. "Well, thanks a lot for locking me in here cap."

The LED's of my stripped head bathed the dark vent in an eerie red hue as I crawled my way through the narrow space, groaning, mumbling, and asking myself how I let Ferny convince me to do this. After a few feet the vent split up in two ways. I awkwardly turned my heavy body to the left and kept going for a minute or two till the next split-up. "I really miss you dear left arm." I thought bitterly as I repeated the ordeal, this time going to the right. Immediately I was greeted with the beautiful sight of a panel a few feet ahead; the light at the end of the tunnel.

I bashed open the panel with the end of my cane, shuffled out of the vent and looked around the weird room. There were no doors; just a big opening that led to the hallway of the party rooms with piles of old monitors by its sides. In the back there was a small TV, an old radio and an alarm-clock on top of a table besides two tall filing cabinets. In front of me, on the right side of the room, there was a desk with an unplugged fan close to another opened vent.

"So, this is the security office." I thought, standing up and trying to find my balance. "Hopefully there won't be any more night guars in a long time." I slowly approached the right air vent and looked curiously at the big square button that was on top of it.

"Hmm… Light." I read, leaning against the desk and pressing the button with my cane, only to almost fall down in surprise when the light revealed a familiar face looking at me with pitiful green eyes.

"H-hello Mr. Bonnie." stammered my counterpart, ashamed.

"I CAUGHT TB!" I shouted triumphantly as the blue Toy crawled out of the vent, ears lowered in defeat.

"HA! You SUCK Bugs Bunny!" echoed Balloons' mocking voice from the right vent.

"Shh! You're giving us away, idiot!" hissed back TC's angry voice.

I shook my head and chuckled in amusement. "He's not the brightest lightbulb, huh?"

But TB didn't answer. His head and ears were down; his green eyes were filled with disappointment as he rubbed his elbow awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"He's right." whimpered the little boy, "I was the _first one_ to lose. I'm… I'm terrible at hide and seek."

My ego shattered when I saw how TB's shoulders trembled slightly as he cried. Since I woke up part of me refused to believe that they were human; I selfishly saw them as little more than glorified animatronics. But seeing TB cry reminded me that they were like us, that there were innocent kids trapped behind those cheery metal masks. That they too were murdered and torn apart from the ones they loved, and stuck inside these walls with no one else around them until we broke Walther's seal. It reminded me that they too needed friends.

"It's okay." I whispered softly, gently lifting TB's chin with the tip of my cane until he was looking at me in the eyes. "Sometimes to win we have to lose first. But we have to keep trying until we get there, and not let anyone bring us down, don't you think?"

TB nodded slowly, making my cane go up and down as his shoulders stopped trembling.

"Good, now go wait for us with Mr. Mario, alright?"

"A-alright." TB turned around and walked into the hallway, "Good luck Mr. Bonnie!" he called out, waving at me.

"Thanks!" I replied with a nod, seeing how the bright figure walked away into the corridor.

"This looks promising." I thought enthusiastically as I pushed myself off the table and walked towards the filing cabinets in the back of the room. I laid the cane against the wall, quickly grabbed the handle of the first cabinet before I lost my balance and pulled at it, only to realize that it was locked.

"C'mon." I groaned, giving it a big tug. "Just. Open. UP!"

Suddenly, the lock snapped and the door swung open. Struggling to keep my balance, I quickly grabbed the top edge of the opened cabinet and wheezed with satisfaction when I looked inside. There were a bunch of books and magazines on the top shelf, some video cassettes and notebooks in the middle and a bunch of audio tapes in the bottom. One of the few handy things about being an animatronic was the strength these bodies had.

My ears rose up in surprise and hope when I saw a little cardboard box among the audio cassettes. I carefully went to my knees, pulled out the box, opened it and saw five tapes. Shaking my head in joy and disbelieve, I eagerly grabbed one of the tapes. "I think this was mine." I laughed, only to feel my hopes shatter when I saw the unknown handwriting on the cassette.

_How to safely operate animatronic mechanical suits, Part 2. By Dave Hobbs. October 1982._

Growling with frustration I tossed the cassette into the box and shoved it back into the cabinet, hoping with resentment that no one would find the useless things. Wondering why the room suddenly felt so cold, I grabbed one of the edges of the cabinet, pulled myself up and carefully grabbed my cane.

"Time for the other one." I sighed, walking towards the cabinet that had an emptied-out Freddy headpiece on top of it and repeating the same procedure with the locked handle. The head almost fell down as I finally opened the cabinet, revealing nothing but stacks of manila folders and an out-of-place-looking heavy duty flashlight. The cold became worse as I turned my back to the hallway and grabbed my cane again.

Shrugging and hoping that someone else would find the tapes, I turned around to stare directly into the empty white orbs of a smiling pitch-black silhouette; the silhouette of a rabbit.

"P-PLEASE!" wailed the Shadow; its voice weak, roaring, childish and robotic at the same time, "Le-L-Let me m-me go… I WANT TO GO!"

My body froze with terror as the Shadow erupted with laughter. "P-P-Pain… he g-g-gave us so much." chuckled the figure as its shape seemed to flicker in the dark corner of the room. "He le-left us ALONE!" A red light started to flicker on his chest like a broken lightbulb.

I thought that after all that happened, nothing could scare me; that all the pain and impossible things I've been through made me immune to be scared to the point I couldn't move. I thought I had outgrown fear.

I was wrong.

My paralyzed body dropped the cane and crashed to the ground with a loud clang. Those eyes were… wrong. Everything about the Shadow was wrong, unnatural, surreal… nightmarish.

"We're s-so lonely…" whimpered the figure, sounding surprisingly human.

Sobbing in terror, I crawled away from the thing until the back of my head hit the second cabinet, making the flashlight fall besides me.

"B-but you c-can come pl-PLAY with us!" continued the Shadow, its voice now cheery and hopeful, "You c-can be l-like us!" he let out another wave of maniac laughter, "It'll be very… VERY f-f-fun!"

I shivered with cold and fear as the black silhouette's grin grew wider and started to slowly walk towards me. I looked around the room like a trapped animal, and grabbed the flashlight in panicked instinct.

"Whaa... What are you d-d-doing?" giggled the Shadow that was suddenly right on top of me, making me scream in horror. "You d-don't n-n-need that!" Panting with fear I cowered against the filing cabinet, seeing how a pitch-black arm reached for my chest, for my seal. "Just sssstay c-calm." it purred.

"AARGH!" The freezing tips of its fingers touched the side of my chest, making me roar in pain as they went _through _me. I tightened my grip around the flashlight and fumbled with it until I turned it on.

"D-DON'T WORRY B-B-BUDDY… AAAALMOST THERE!" shouted out the triumphant Shadow, only to let out a sharp hiss as I shone the flashlight on its side. The Shadow kept groaning and hissing, stumbling backwards weakly. I steadied my hand, aiming the bundle of light right at its face while the thick blackness of the silhouette seemed to thin out until I could see through it.

"We'll c-come back…" moaned the faded-out Shadow, assaulting me with another dead and empty stare right before it melted away, "we always do."

The cold disappeared, but I was still shivering as I crawled towards my cane. Grabbing it, my ears rose up when I heard some heavy footsteps approaching quickly. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the slender dark-red figure of Ferny running down the hall towards the office.

"Brandon, are you alright?" he whispered, entering the room and seeing me tossed on the floor. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

"I… I…" was all I could mutter. My hand was still trembling around the cane's handle, my chest still tingled with a strange burning cold, and I was still more than twitchy.

"Take it easy, you can tell us later." soothed Ferny. "I didn't find anything. How about you?" I shook my head.

Sighing, Ferny looked at the alarm-clock behind us. "Well, we still have twenty minutes." He helped me get back on my feet and waited until I was more or less calm.

"Fer," I whispered shakily, "remember what Puppet said about those Shadows?" He nodded. "I think there's a bit more to it than what he told us."

"We'll talk to him later." replied Ferny, walking back into the hallway. "But for now, we still have some tapes to find and a game to win."

* * *

**A/N: **The Shadows _might _reappear... eventually. I just wanted to give you a taste of how I imagine them. They're basically 'broken' souls, so that's why the mood and the voice of Shadow Bonnie are so strange. As you might remember, they don't have human memories, so they don't know what they're doing.

About the book: last week, I read that _A brief history of time_ was published in 1987. "Great," I thought, "it's going to be a fun little detail that's historically accurate." Wrong. The book was actually published in 1988... oops. Let's just ignore that little screw-up, shall we?

That's it guys. Take care, have a good week, and don't forget to pamper Dad. And as always your reviews, suggestions and critic are welcomed with opened arms. See ya! *Tips top hat*


	16. Games and puzzles

**A/N: **Sorry to keep you waiting guys, but I wanted to take my time with this one. I feel like the last two chapters weren't as polished as they should be and that there was room for improvement. Excuse me and thank you for your patience. I'll try to start earlier next time and actually be on time.

But besides that I'm really thankful for last chapter's reviews. Honestly, I didn't quite feel like I managed to capture the creepiness of Shadow Bonnie, and hearing you say that you liked that part means a lot to me. As you've probably noticed already Tape 2 is _very _different from Tape 1 so far, so your honest opinions on this new part of the story are very appreciated. And as always, let me know if you spotted an error and happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 16: Games and puzzles**

Party Room 1 was the last place where Ferny and I looked for the tapes. But after pushing the folded tables aside, pulling everything out of the little shelf under the camera and even checking the open vent it dawned on us that they simply were not there. If Sean or Sarah had found them they would've started looking for the Toys, but with only a couple of minutes left it was clear that we failed to do either of the two. With downed shoulders and drooped ears, Ferny and I stepped back into the hallway.

"Are you sure?" asked Ferny once again, keeping his doubtful voice low so that the Toys wouldn't hear us.

"What else could it be?" I whispered back harshly, shivering as the skeletal smile of the Shadow reappeared in my mind. "He… _It _tried to break the seal on my body and kept saying something about playing with him."

"Sounds like a nice guy." snickered Ferny as we turned the corner and walked along the Main Hall.

"What?! I almost…"

"Died?" chuckled my friend, "I'm afraid we're all past that." His yellow eyes shone with the same sharpness and confidence as they did when we were alive; that little spark that I feared was forever lost after I found him covered in the blood of the guard.

"You're joking again." I whispered, "You seem… happy."

Ferny stopped walking and turned around to face me with sudden seriousness. After a few moments of silence, he sighed and leaned against a wall. "You have no idea how it feels… knowing that somebody died because of you."

"It wasn't your fault." I interrupted.

"I know, I know." he mumbled, tapping his foot. "You know, right before they took my battery away I was okay with that. I thought 'Better this than hurting anyone else.' Part of me just gave up right there and then. I didn't care anymore."

A big feeling of déjà vu came to me as Ferny looked at me with pained eyes. I was blinded so much by the pain of losing Mom that I forgot about his anger and guilt.

"I was kinda mad when I woke up again." he continued, "I thought that I'd only end up killing another guard or hurting one of you, that nothing good could possibly come from being like this."

"But you fixed me." I said flatly.

Ferny shrugged like it was nothing. "Sean, the Toys and me fixed you. When Sarah told me that you needed my help, I realized that I had two options. I could either keep feeling sorry and miserable for something that I can't fix, or I could help my friend." The yellow light from his eyes was filled with warmth and trust as he looked up at me. "Sometimes the best way to help yourself is helping someone else."

"Thanks Fer." I whispered, not knowing what else to say. He shrugged it off once again.

"Thanks to you too."

"Time's up guys!" called out Marionette from the Game Area, right before we heard some triumphant shouts coming from the walls. Ferny and I walked back to the Game Area just in time to see Balloons crawl quickly out of a vent, followed by Mangle and TC. At the same time, my brother and Sarah walked out of Kid's Cove with a disappointed look in their eyes, but with a big carton box in Sean's hands, much larger than the one with the tapes. Sitting on the bench where Ferny was reading, TB was brushing the petals of his rose with wonder while Junior, legs crossed, pretended to read an upside-down newspaper next to him.

"HA! In your face!" taunted Balloons as he stood up, shaking his round hand at Sarah with cockiness.

"Good game… you little scamp." she hissed behind him.

Balloons let out one of his mocking laughs. "Were you even trying Ms. Chica?"

Growling menacingly, Sarah began to take some big footsteps towards the boy-like animatronic, but stopped when TC jumped in front of her.

"Balloons, please say sorry to Ms. Chica." sighed Marionette.

"Yeah, stop being so rude BB!" nagged the yellow Toy.

"Thanks Mini, you tell 'em!" shouted Sarah, pointing a broken wrist at Balloons.

TC's head perked up slightly. "Mini…" she hummed, "I like that name Ms. Chica."

"It just came to me." said Sarah proudly, "It's better than KFC, isn't it?"

"Yes it is! It's _so _cute! Can you call me like that now?"

"Girls…" muttered Balloons bitterly, stomping towards the arcades behind the carousel.

Ignoring the couple of chatting girls I walked as quickly as I could towards Marionette. "Hey Bonnie," he said friendly, "what's…"

"We _need _to talk." I demanded, "You never told us that those Shadow things are dangerous."

"Shh, the Toys don't know!" he whispered nervously.

"_I _don't know, and I think I need to know."

"Alright, alright…" Marionette looked around uneasily before resting his eyes on my brother. "Hey Freddy, can you come with Bonnie and me for a sec?"

Sean nodded and put down the big box on the floor. Nobody seemed to notice when the three of us walked and limped into Price Corner. Marionette opened the door for us both and closed it as soon as we were in.

"Alright Pizza Boy," he said impatiently, "what happened?"

* * *

"So you're telling us," summed up Sean, "that a pitch-black Shadow that looked a bit like TB but larger appeared out of thin air, said that it was lonely, tried to break your seal by sticking its fingers _through_ your chest and then disappeared when you shone a flashlight on it?"

"…yes." I answered weakly.

My brother and Marionette looked at each other with astonishment before turning their heads back at me. "I honestly didn't know they could be dangerous." said the latter, "I saw the Shadow that came from Bucky once, but that was years ago. As soon as it saw me it disappeared, like it was scared of me."

"Yeah… there were two Shadows," remembered Sean, "so where was the other one?"

I shrugged. "It did say 'Play with us.' instead of 'Play with me.' But I have no idea."

"They're definitely still here," said Marionette thoughtfully, holding his chin, "but it waited for you to be alone. I guess that maybe if we stick together we'll be fine."

I wasn't so sure about that, but my brother nodded with confidence at Marionette's words. "Alright then," groaned Sean, limping towards the door, "let's see what the little guys are up to."

Stepping back into the Game Area, we saw that the little guys were all glued to the arcades behind the dinner tables and carousel of the large room, growling and mumbling at the colorful screens and at each other. I realized that they were way too concentrated to hear us talk.

"Even Mangle's better at Duck Hunt than you brother." I whispered teasingly, getting a little growl from him. Close to his reading bench, Ferny was rummaging through the large box that Sean carried from Kid's Cove while Sarah looked at it with curiosity.

"Anything nice?" asked my brother, kneeling besides the box that was filled to the brim with old table games and decks of cards.

"Nope." replied Sarah as Ferny's hook dug into the box of a game of Operation. "It's not like the Toys would want to play these things. Since they found the key of the game's coin slots they're hooked."

"Sounds familiar?" asked Ferny sarcastically, looking at up us.

"Yeah…" I sighed, leaning heavily on my cane as I remembered how much Sean and I played in the old place between our murders and the reopening. "I think we broke every single high score three times… except one, huh brother?"

"Stupid hound." growled Sean, clenching his fists and making the three of us snicker quietly.

"Do we put them back into the Kid's Cove?" asked Sarah after recovering from the giggling.

I was about to say yes when an idea suddenly crossed my mind. "Brother, do you mind carrying the box to the party room where Jack is?"

"But why would you…" started Sean, before realizing what I had in mind. "Not at all Don," he said happily, "not at all."

* * *

As always we found Jack slumped down in a corner against the wall, tracing circles on the blanket that covered his legs and middle. He didn't look up at us as we entered the room.

"Hey buddy," I whispered softly, walking to his side along with my brother, "guess what?" On cue, Sean dropped the box with games by Jack's side. "We found a few fun things to play with!"

Ignoring Jack's sighs, I got on my knees beside the box, put the cane on the floor by my side and fished out the first game I saw.

"Monopoly?" I asked, raising the game's box. Jack shook his head and traced an X on the blanket.

"Okay, how about Operation?" Again, he shook his head and traced an X.

"Scrabble?" Jack shook his head…

"Umm, Parcheesi?" and traced an X on the blanket…

"Do you know any card game?" once again…

"Maybe checkers?" and again…

"Risk?" and again…

"Battleship? and again.

I gave out a defeated sigh, putting the last table game on the floor. I looked at my brother for help, but he just shrugged. "There are a few jigsaw puzzles left." he said, cocking his head at the box.

I picked up one of the boxes. "750 pieces, assembly time 60 to 90 minutes." I read out loud, "Ages 12 and up. He's seven."

"So?" huffed Sean, "We can help him."

I looked at Jack. His ears were popped up and his eyes seemed to be locked on the box with expectation, completely different from the cold expression he had a moment ago.

"Would you like to play this?" I asked.

Jack nodded immediately and whispered an excited "Yes."

"Great!" I grabbed the box and took the lid off; all the pieces were loose and scrambled, not showing at all the old-fashioned painting of a bear and a rabbit walking side by side through the woods that was printed on the box. Jack pushed himself more against the wall as I put the bottom of the box with the pieces and the lid on top of the blanket covering his legs.

"It's a hard puzzle, so we're gonna begin to help you out, alright?" I said as Sean sat by my side.

"If you w-want." replied Jack calmly, raising his shoulders.

I clumsily rummaged through the box with my only hand before grabbing a corner piece.

"Right corner or left corner?" I asked my brother. He shrugged as I put it in the left bottom corner.

"Hey, I think this one goes with that." he said with excitement, grabbing another piece before uselessly trying to connect it with mine. "Alright, maybe not."

For the next ten minutes, Jack occasionally shook his head at us while Sean and I tried to jam as many puzzle pieces together as we could with little success. I sighed as I looked at our progress: 15 pieces formed a green speck in the bottom of the large lid. We were pulled out of our trance by the sound of a turning doorknob behind us.

"Hey guys!" greeted Sarah joyfully as Ferny pushed the door open, "We're having a little arcade tournament with the Toys. Wanna come?"

"Thanks Sarah," I replied, "but we're already playing with Jack."

"Please guys," she insisted, "just ten minutes? I _know _how much you love those games and the Toys were begging me to call over Mr. Bonnie."

I looked at my brother. "Don't worry Don," he said, "I'll stay with him. This will take some time anyways."

"Alright then," I sighed, grabbing my cane and standing up, "I'll be right back Jack."

"O-okay." he stammered, completely focused on the loose pieces in the box. I walked back to the door and turned around to see him slowly pick up a single piece before leaving the room.

* * *

"My turn Small Bird!"

"You lost Boo-Boo Bear! It's _my _turn now!"

"Junior, Mini, no fighting!" nagged Sarah, making the two Toys shut up immediately and turn around to face us with startled eyes.

"What be the problem lads?" asked Ferny sternly, tapping his foot and crossing his arms.

"Ms. Chica, cap Foxy, he lost and won't let me play!" whined Mini, pointing accusingly at the brown Toy.

"Hi friends," greeted Junior, tipping his hat hastily at us, "I lost because she was pulling my hand!"

"Liar liar pants on fire!" mocked back Sarah's counterpart, putting her hands on her hips.

I looked at the lined-up arcades against the wall. BB was standing on a chair, struggling to turn the driving wheel of the Out Run arcade while Mangle used a torn scrap of her arm to pull the trigger of Duck Hunt. TB was the only one who wasn't playing; he was sitting on the carousel, looking at his rose with drooped ears and melancholic eyes.

"First of all," I interrupted, "why isn't TB playing?"

"He doesn't know how to play this game." explained Junior.

"Have you tried to teach him?"

Both Toys looked at me with surprise. "Umm… no." they confessed at the same time.

"TB!" I called out, making the bunny's ears rise up as he looked at me, "Let's play, I'll teach you."

"Umm… don't worry Mr. Bonnie." he mumbled shyly, rubbing his elbow, "I'm okay."

"C'mon, it's the simplest one!" I insisted, "You'll get it in no time, trust me."

"But, Mr. Bonnie…" started Junior, looking at the fought-over arcade with pained eyes.

"Bums to your buts young man." I replied, imitating Mom's saying, "You both had your play time and you can both play later."

Crestfallen, Mini and Junior silently shuffled to another arcade. TB stood up and skipped towards the game.

"It's mine and Mr. Freddy's favorite." I told him as he grabbed a coin from the plastic cup on top of the machine and popped it in the slot. "You're the little yellow ball and you have to eat all those little white dots to beat the stage. You move around with the little stick."

"That's all?" asked my counterpart.

"Nope. You see those colored ghosts? When they're like that and they touch you, they kill you. But when you eat one of those big balls, they turn blue and _you_ can kill them."

TB pressed start, and immediately a familiar jingle appeared along with the words "Ready?" on the screen. To my surprise, he cleared the first stage after only losing one life.

"You _sure_ you haven't played before?" I teased.

TB laughed and shook his head. Grabbing the controller with both hands, he got halfway through the stage before losing. "Can we play again, please?" he begged.

"Why not?" Junior and Mini were already playing other games with Sarah, Ferny, Mangle and Balloons. TB grabbed another coin, and pressed start again.

* * *

"Left!" I shouted, "Up! Right! Up! UP UP UP… aww. Hey, we got to stage four. Not bad!"

I couldn't play without both hands, so for the past ten minutes TB had been playing for me. I told him where I wanted to go and he moved there.

"You're good Mr. Bonnie." he said with awe.

"Practice makes perfect little one." I boasted, enjoying that for once _I _wasn't the youngest. "I'll be back later, alright?"

"Alright!" chirped TB, running towards Ferny and Sarah. "Cap Foxy, Ms. Chica, I learned how to play Pac-Man!"

I walked back to the Party Room with a small feeling of accomplishment in my head. "Brother, can you open?" I called out when I got there.

No answer. I managed to push open the door with my shoulder and saw Sean still sitting where he was when I left.

"Don," said my brother, turning his head around to see me with a pair of baffled blue eyes, "he finished the thing in fifteen minutes."

I slowly walked towards the pair, looking at a completed painting of a bear and a rabbit walking through a dark forest like two dear friends resting on Jack's lap.

"He did this…"

"Alone." completed Sean. Jack shrugged and looked up at me, his little pinpoints of eyes shining brightly with more pride and happiness I've ever seen in them. When he looked at me like that, I simply started laughing. Loudly, unchained, I laughed and sat by their side.

"Brother, are there more puzzles?"

"Five in this box, and there are more boxes in Kid's Cove. But I think we'll need more than that." he chuckled.

"T-thank you." whispered Jack, looking away from me shyly.

"Thanks to you too buddy." I replied, because it was true; sometimes the best way to help yourself is helping someone else. For that golden instant when Jack's eyes brightened up, the past didn't exist; every bit of sadness and despair inside of me melted away like a dark cloud on a sunny day. We were just three kids enjoying a little happy moment.

* * *

**A/N: **It just wouldn't be the 1980's without Pac-Man, would it? As you saw the Toys have multiple nicknames, but I think I'm going with Junior for Toy Freddy and Mini for Toy Chica. It just sounds better than TF, TC, and TB. I didn't want their names to be so similar since they're actually quite different in personality.

People with autism often have a certain talent or skill way more developed than the average Joe, and in this case Jack is a jigsaw puzzle genius. We'll see more of him in the next chapters as he will be a very important piece in the huge puzzle that's this story.

Finally, I have something special planned for you all next week. It's a little surprise I'm looking forward to writing! Take care guys and happy 4th of July if you live in the US, since the next chap should be up the 5th. See you then and have a good week!


	17. Fireworks

**A/N: **Welcome back guys... hehe... yeah. I had some family coming over, so it all got a bit hectic. But, here it is! This is a special 4th-of-July-themed chapter. I know that most of you are from the US, I wanted to give something back! This one is particularly long since I'm afraid the next chap will be quite short. It has a different 'feel' to it, so let me know what you think.

As always, thanks for all your feedback and support this past week; specially to my guest reviewers since I can't thank them properly for their kind words, and I'm not a fan of replying to comments in A/N's. Nevertheless, thanks a lot for your kind words. Also, there are some intentional 'mistakes' in TB's dialogue since he's still a very young kid. Well, happy reading guys and have a good week.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Fireworks**

**"**Okay Don, I think we'll try it one more time." said my brother, looking down at my painful body that was tossed on the floor. "It's very late."

Groaning, I grabbed Ferny's hook and let him pull me back on two feet, looking around the dark Main Hall as I held on to his shoulder. "I'm… I'm not sure I can do it."

"Brandon, you were the one that wanted to try this in the first place." reminded Sarah, stepping in front of me.

"Besides," added Sean, limping to my left and grabbing my shoulder, "I'm sure you can do it."

Five days had passed since I woke up in the new place. For the past three, I'd been trying to walk without a cane again after the Toys went to sleep. But so far, all I managed to get was another dent in my knee.

"Alright," I sighed, "one more time." Fer let go of my hand and my brother released my shoulder at the same time. I tried to lean my off-balanced body to the left, but I was too late. With another loud metallic bang I fell on my armless side.

"You okay?" asked a worried Sarah, taking a big stride and looking down at me with compassion.

"Dammit…" I groaned as I turned on my back. "That… _hurt._" Once again Ferny pulled me back up while my brother picked up the cane and passed it to me. Sighing, I grabbed it reluctantly and started to silently walk back to Party Room 3.

"Y'know," started Ferny after a few moments, "I miss the barbecues."

"Your dad made amazing chicken wings." said Sean nostalgically.

"I knew you remembered those." snickered Sarah, "Brandon and you always ate them up before Ferny or me could grab one."

"That's not true!" I chuckled, stopping in front of the door of the third Party Room.

"It is." Ferny and Sarah grumbled at the same time, looking at us with acted seriousness.

"Alright, _maybe _we ate a bit more than we should." I followed Sean as he opened the door and stepped in the Party Room. "Anyways, goodnight guys."

"Goodnight!" The tattered yellow and red figures turned around and walked back to Party Room 4. In our room, Jack was sleeping peacefully in his corner, a finished puzzle in an open box beside him. I got lost in thoughts as I remembered the last couple of days. Since we found those boxes the invisible bubble that he had around him was beginning to shrink and crack again. I'd often sit by his side, watching him happily puzzle away the hours while I tried to gather up the courage to ask him a single question:

Can you forgive me?

"Don?"

"Huh?" I shook my head and turned around to see that my brother was already laying on top of his blanket, a power cable plugged into the port on his back.

"I said have a good night," he repeated patiently, "and happy fourth of July."

"Thanks brother," I yawned, feeling the tiredness of the day catch up with me, "you too."

I knelt down, put the cane on the floor, laid myself on top the dirty tablecloth and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

"Mr. Bonnie!" hissed the anxious voice of TB as I felt something tug my arm, "Mr. Bonnie, please wake up!"

"Hmm… w-what?" I yawned, raising my head to see the little blue figure that looked down at me with terrified eyes.

"Sorry Mr. Bonnie, I-I just didn't know who to wake up." he whimpered in a high-pitched, panicked voice.

"Alright TB," I said as slowly and soothingly as possible, feeling slightly alarmed myself, "calm down and tell me what happened."

"The sky…"

"Uh-huh?"

"It's… it's…"

"Uh-huh?"

"THE SKY IS ON FIRE!"

"Uh-huh." I sat up and unplugged the power cord from my back, surprised that nor Sean nor Jack woke up with TB's entry and alarmed cry. "Say that again?"

"I woke up l-like ten minutes ago," stammered my counterpart nervously, "a-and couldn't fall back asleep, so I l-left the room and started walking alone for a bit, a-and…"

"You shouldn't do that." I interrupted.

"I know, I'm really, _really_ sorry. But when I l-looked out the window, I s-saw all these big expolsions in the sky!"

"Explosions?"

TB gave me a quick little nod. "Please, hurry up!"

Confused and worried, I grabbed my cane and stood up as fast as I could in my half slumber while TB rubbed his elbow anxiously, waiting till I was standing up before rushing out of the room. Following him to the door, I turned around to see that my brother and Jack were still sleeping peacefully like a couple of hibernating bears.

The distant noises got louder as we stepped into the Game Area, the dull tiled floor reflecting a rainbow of light while we both neared the large window hidden behind some dinner tables. Surprisingly, the distant bangs sounded familiar, almost like…

"Fireworks." I gasped, stepping in front of the window and staring into the fantastic display of light and colors that dressed the sky.

"Do we wake up the others Mr. Bonnie?" asked a panicked TB, "What if it's dangerous?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry, they're harmless!"

"They are?" asked my confused counterpart, ears rising up in surprise.

"Yeah, they can't do anything from here. You just look at them and enjoy." I turned around and did exactly that, staring dreamily at the brilliant sky. At first, TB flinched back with each explosion, turning away his head in fright. But after a couple of minutes he started to see the fireworks with more awe than fear.

"Aren't they pretty?" An engrossed TB answered with a silent nod.

"What are they?" he asked, letting out a little 'ooh' as a big golden star lit up the black sky.

"They're fireworks. Outside the pizzeria there are men shooting them up at the sky where they explode and make these beautiful lights. They do that to celebrate something that happened a long time ago."

"Woah… so the world outside is that big?"

"It's huge! It's bigger and more beautiful than anything you can imagine." TB looked at me with confused and doubtful eyes. "It has rivers, deserts, plains, jungles, snow…"

"Mr. Bonnie, what's a snow?" I sighed and looked down at him with pity; he really didn't remember _anything. _

Humming, I thought about what I could tell him before clearing my throat. "You do know what rain is, right?" He nodded rapidly. "Well…"

And so, I briefly told him about the world outside; the winter snow and the summer sun; the lush jungles and dead deserts; the mountains so high they reach the clouds and the seas so deep they seem bottomless. TB's eyes seemed to grow wider and glow brighter with each sentence that I told. After I was done, he just stared out the window at the colorful night.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"That's so _cool!_" he beamed, completely excited. "How do you know all that?"

"Well, when I was little Mom and Dad always used to talk to me about that sort of thing when we went out on walks with my…" My voice cut out when I realized what I just said.

"I thought only humans had moms and dads." My counterpart looked at me attentively, waiting for an answer. "We're just robots, right?"

"Well…" I mumbled nervously; every bit of me was dying to tell him the truth he deserved to know. "Umm…"

"Right Mr. Bonnie?" repeated TB as he locked his gaze on me, his own voice suddenly sounding nervous to find out the answer.

"R-right." I stammered, "I meant the man and woman who built me and Freddy."

"Ah." Once again he turned around and looked at the fireworks. "Are they nice people?"

"They're the best." I said proudly, "They always made us feel better when we were sad. If I had a bad day, Mom would sit by side before I went to sleep. She told me that even angels get sad sometimes, and when they cry, it rains. But there's always a rainbow after a rainy day, so we should never lose hope no matter how dark the sky is. And I…" letting out a long sigh, I lowered my broken head. "I… really miss them."

"What happened to them?"

I stayed quiet for a moment, fighting the sudden need to cry. "They… left." I said flatly, staring at the window. "They left to a place that's really far away, first Dad, then Mom. I'm a bit sad because I can't be with them after s-spending so much time t-together… we loved p-playing games with Foxy and Ch… Chica and… I j-just wish I c-could've s-said goodbye to them. Hug t-them one m-more time like I used t-to."

"Mr. Bonnie," whispered my counterpart softly, looking curiously at me. "are you crying?"

"N-no." I huffed, looking up at the twinkling little stars above the fireworks. "Wherever they are… t-they're together now, waiting f-for me and my friends."

"But then there's no need to cry, right?" chirped TB, "I'm sure they'll be very happy to see you!"

"Y-yeah… you're right." I looked down at the shiny blue figure that reflected all kinds of colors from the fireworks. "Thanks."

He nodded with pride. "I just wish I knew who my mom and dad are and where they are."

"I know they're out there, waiting for you."

"You think so?" he asked with disbelieve, "You really think they'd want to see me?"

"Off course!" I laughed, "Why don't you think so?"

"Well," TB started to rub his elbow awkwardly, "I don't really have any friends."

"What are you talking about? You have Junior and Mini!"

"Yeah…" he sighed, "it's just that… I don't know…"

"You're afraid they don't like you, right?" He looked up at me with surprise.

"How did you know?"

"Well…" I hummed, translating my story to something he could relate to. "When I was still a new animatronic like you, I thought that no one but Mom and Dad and Freddy would like me. I met a lot of new people, but I was too afraid to actually try to be friends with them. I thought that no one would like to be my friend because I was too different from them, so I never even _tried._"

"That's a sad story." interrupted TB with a low voice.

"Ah, but it gets better, because then I met Foxy and Chica! Turns out, they too were scared of making new friends. I realized that they were a bit like me, so I pushed my fear aside for a moment and talked to them, and now we're best friends! Sometimes we have to take the first step, you see?"

TB nodded. "Thanks Mr. Bonnie, I'll try."

"And don't say you don't have any friends." I added, "It makes me feel bad."

He looked at me, baffled. "You mean… you really want to be my friend?"

"Well, yeah." I shrugged, "What did you thi-"

"THANK YOU!" squealed my counterpart in delight, "Thank you _so _much!"

"Umm, you're welcome?" I was more surprised when I saw TB open up the frontal panel of his chest hastily. "Wait, what are you…"

"Here!" he pulled out the rose that was taped on the inside of his chest, holding it in front of me with a shaky hand.

"TB, you really don't have to give me anything. I know how much that rose means to you."

"That's why I want you to have it." he insisted, "It's a gift for you. Take it."

"What if we share it?" I countered, "Friends don't just give or take, they share. So, I'll keep it for one day, then you'll keep it for another, then you'll give it back to me for a day and so on. Sounds good?"

"Umm… okay!" he skipped by my side and put the rose's stem in a little hole in my torso. Somehow, that fake flowered filled up part of the gaping hole that Mom's death left behind in my chest. Somehow, I didn't feel so empty and cold anymore. I looked down at the crumpled petals that seemed to sprout from my body.

"Thanks buddy," I sighed, "thank you very much."

The fireworks became louder, reaching a peak as he nodded happily, right before we heard some heavy footsteps coming our way. I turned around to see the glowing blue eyes of my brother in the dark room.

"Thank goodness…" he wheezed, speeding up his limping, "Bon, you gave me a good scare."

"Umm, sorry." I mumbled awkwardly, my ears drooping down in shame.

"TB, you should be sleeping." nagged Sean, "It's really late and… are those fireworks?!"

My brother limped as fast as he could to our side, letting out a little gasp as the show's finale lit up the night with more colors than I thought possible. Then, the last huge fireworks rose up, dressing the black sky with one last dash of sparkly gold before it all went quiet and dark again.

"That was great." whispered Sean in awe, "But you both need to go to bed."

"Alright." TB and I muttered at the same time, following my brother back through the dark building. I wished my counterpart a good night, and with a warm feeling in my chest, quickly fell asleep in my own room.

* * *

Another day had passed, and once again, Party Room 3 was almost completely silent after the Toys' bedtime. My brother lazily turned a page of his magazine, while Jack completed his third puzzle with me sitting beside him as his audience.

"And t-this one g-goes… here." he said cheerily, filling up the last empty space before putting back the lid and laying the box neatly on top of the other two.

"Nice job!" I tried giving him a pat on the shoulder, only for him to flinch away when I brought down my hand. "Sorry, I… I forgot."

"It's o-okay." he stammered, right as Ferny quietly opened the door.

"Brandon, Sean, they're asleep." he hissed, peeking his head into the room "Wanna try again tonight?"

I nodded, grabbed my cane and stood up. "Good night Jack." I called out, turning around to see him when I reached the doorframe.

"Good n-night…" he yawned, pulling up his blanket and nuzzling his head on top of his arm.

"So, where's Sarah?" I asked as Ferny, my brother and I reached the Main Hall.

"She didn't want to come tonight." answered Fer, "She was really tired, sorry."

"Oh…" I lowered my head in disappointment. "That's okay, I get it." What I didn't get was that we kept walking down the Main Hall to the Game Area unlike every other night. "Guys, where are we going?" I received a guilty giggle from my left and my right side as we entered the large room. Squinting, I saw a bunch of little colored lights at the other side of the area. Then, the huge lamps on the ceiling turned on.

"SURPRISE!" Sarah, TB, Junior, Mini, Mangle, Balloons and Marionette shouted at the same time.

"W… what… umm…" I stammered, clutching my cane's handle as hard as I could to avoid stumbling down in shock.

"Bon," my brother cleared his throat calmly, "maybe what you need is a tiny speck of encouragement from the new guys." He pointed at the back of the room. "Chica's idea."

Sarah waved energetically at me, swaying the bundles of wires through the air. "Good luck!" she shouted.

I shook my head and chuckled. "You're all crazy."

* * *

"You're doing great Bon," soothed my brother, tightening his grip on my shoulder, "just take your time."

Looking at the hopeful eyes of Sarah and the Toys on the other side of the Game Area, then at Sean and Ferny holding my left shoulder and right arm besides me, I took another shaky step without my cane; only to almost fall when the uneven weight on my right side dragged me down.

"Easy lad," hushed Ferny, pushing my body back to the left until I was balanced again, "there ye go."

"Don't forget to lean to your left!" shouted Sarah. I nodded and took another step, doing as I was told.

"Okay, I think I got it." I whispered with confidence. Sean and Ferny slowly let go of me as I leaned my wobbly body to the left, shuffling my feet slightly to find my balance until I was standing on my own. Then, I took a little step… and another… and another.

With each step, I saw how everyone's eyes brightened up with all kinds of emotions: relief, worry, fear, but above all, happiness. It was then that I heard my brother slowly clapping by my side as I started to walk faster, followed by Ferny who stomped on the floor. And just like that, the large room filled up with a symphony of metallic clapping, clanging and banging as everyone with both hands clapped while everyone who couldn't clap stomped.

"Guys, please…" I mumbled with slight embarrassment, but it only stirred up the flame. Sarah and TB stood up, followed by Junior, Mini, and Balloons; Mangle waved at me with something that looked a bit like an arm while Marionette did his version of a thumbs up. Chuckling, I shook my head and looked at all the figures, new and old, that cheered at me like I had broken a world record.

I felt a heavy arm wrap itself around my neck and shoulder, pulling me backwards into a warm embrace. "Mission accomplished Don," whispered my brother, his voice barely audible through all the noise as he shook my shoulder playfully, "I told you you could do it."

I let go of all resistance, letting him pull me in closer. Then; quietly, unexpectedly, truthfully; it slipped out.

"I love you brother." My ears rose and body tensed up when I realized what I said. "Erm, I m-mean… you, y'know…"

Sean shut up my embarrassed stutter when a tighter hug. "I love you too private," he whispered quietly, "don't you ever forget that."

"Not while I exist brother," I promised, "not while I exist."


	18. Small steps

**Chapter 18: Small steps**

The air in the third Party Room was so tense you could cut it with a knife. I quickly picked up another jigsaw piece from the puzzle's lid next to my sitting body and popped it in its place, then another, and finally, the last one.

"And… I win buddy!" I cheered, putting the piece in the last open space before throwing my arm up in the air; the now completed puzzle in its box was resting on my legs. In front of me, Jack raised his head from the unfinished jigsaw that was on top of his covered lap, still holding a piece in his hand.

"W-what do you m-mean?" he asked, confused.

"Well," I cleared my throat in a loud, proud way, "after three weeks of losing to you _every single time_, I finally…"

Jack looked at me curiously as he put the jigsaw on the floor… right besides two that were completely finished.

"Never mind." I huffed, putting the lid back on top of the box.

"I was g-getting bored waiting f-for you." he chuckled, tilting his head at me, "You're t-too s-slow!"

"Hey!" I shot back playfully, "I'm not too slow, _you're _too fast!"

We shared a warm and hearty laugh before the room fell back into silence. Looking back at his bright, pinpoint eyes, I was suddenly taken back to a smaller dining area, where a blood-drenched guard was crawling and begging for mercy at my feet. Then, I was throwing Jack violently on the floor, yelling at him, hurting him, as my own maniac laughter echoed in the background. I shook my head desperately, hoping to somehow get the haunting images out of my mind.

"What's wrong?" Jack's voice brought me back to reality. I realized that I was bent over, my only hand clamped painfully into a fist. Sighing deeply, I relaxed my hand and sat straight up again.

"So, umm…" I scratched my head nervously; how could I say this? "We... we've been though quite some stuff, you and me and everyone else. Some good stuff and bad stuff, well, mostly bad stuff." I let out a short sigh. Jack nodded understandingly. "But, the thing is… I just wanted to ask you if…"

I was interrupted by the sound of an opening door. We turned around at the same time to see Mini cheerily waving at us at the doorway.

"Hi Mr. Bonnie, hi Mr. Bucky!" she chirped. Jack turned his head away from her while I waved back. "So," she looked only at me, "we're about to play hide and seek. Wanna come?"

"One minute." I grabbed my puzzle's box, stood up and put the four boxes full of jigsaw pieces on top of each other next to Jack. "I'll be back soon," I told him, bending down by his side, "and bring some that we haven't finished too many times. Is it okay if you play with these in the mean time?" He nodded slowly. "Great, I won't take too long."

I stood up again and waved at him one more time before stepping into the hallway. Following Mini to the Game Area, I remembered these past weeks. Playing games with the Toys made us feel like kids again, and Jack and I were having fun redoing the same jigsaws over and over. I felt like I was starting to regain his trust, but getting him to open up to anyone still seemed impossible; just like finding a way to make him walk again, or not having him flinch back when I accidentally brushed him. He did understand what happened to the Toys, and I felt like he also knew that what happened that night was beyond my control.

I opened the grey door to the Game Area and saw my brother, Sarah and Ferny on one side of the large room and the other four Toys in the other side with Marionette in the middle.

"Mr. Bonnie!" squealed TB, running and skipping to me, "How are you?!"

"I'm good little me." I laughed back, ruffling his ears and making him giggle softly. "Darn! I almost forgot!" I brought back my hand, opened up the frontal plate of my chest and took out the little rose that was perched in a tiny hole. "It's your turn today."

"Thanks!" he chirped as I handled him the fake flower. He opened his own chest and secured it with a tiny piece of tape that was stuck to the inside of his plastic exoskeleton.

"Right in time to start Bonnie." called out Marionette, pointing at TB, Mini and me to go to our groups, "you guys are hiding and the Toys are seeking. Sounds good?"

I nodded, decided to make up for our past losses. At Marionette's word, the five Toys quickly turned around to face the bleak wall. My brother immediately called Sarah, Ferny and me over with a gesture.

"Okay," whispered Sean as the four of us formed a tight circle, "I was thinking about trying out the kitchen."

"I'm coming with you." added Sarah, "Brandon, Fer, any ideas?"

"I'll try the girls' bathrooms," snickered the latter, "they'll never try to find me there."

"That's… smart." whispered my brother, "A bit wrong, but smart. Don?"

"Guess that only leaves the vents for me." I sighed, looking at the panel besides the carousel.

"Have fun then doofus," teased Sarah before we broke up the circle, "and good luck."

The Toys were still facing the wall as I went in the opposite direction of my teammates. I quickly knelt in front of the vent, pulled away the panel and clumsily crawled into the tight space. Groaning, I went on for a few minutes, taking a few odd turns here and there when I realized something.

I had never gone in this vent before, and I was completely lost already.

* * *

"TB?! Mangle?!" I shouted, banging the walls of the vent, "Freddy?! Foxy?!... ANYONE?!" Scratching my head anxiously, I waited in vain for an answer. "C'mon guys, you know I hate staying in here for too long!"

I remained quiet, but no one answered. "Stay calm Brandon," I thought as I started to panic, "Just stay calm." With only the feeble red light coming from my LED's I kept crawling through the pitch-black vent for seemingly hours, humming random tunes nervously. "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair…"

I almost broke down in joyful sobs when I saw a panel in front of me, but there wasn't any light coming from it. Wondering why the place I'd come to was in the dark I banged the panel open and crawled out. "Alright," I chuckled, "who was the joker that turned the lights off?"

No answer. I was standing in a small, unknown and pitch-black room. A very thin layer of brown dust covered the filing cabinets and boxes in a corner, next to a small table. There were all kinds of junk and loose papers scattered on the floor. In the corner closest to me a dirty white blanket covered something that had the size and shape of a sitting man.

Once again, my weak LED's were the only thing showing me the way as I carefully approached the big white lump. Standing in front of it, I stretched out my hand, grabbed the blanket and pulled it away; only to let out a short yelp when two dead grey eyes stared back at me. I stumbled backwards in shock, looking away from the body in terror; but I had to see it clearly. And when I did, I shook my head at my own stupid scare.

"So, you must be Spring." I said flatly. The blanket didn't save the bunny mechanical suit from being covered with dust, but besides that it was in good condition. The metallic joints of the yellow-furred limbs were very different from the ones that any of our bodies had, so we couldn't salvage this thing to repair Jack or anyone else.

Taking slow, careful steps I checked the cabinets and the table's drawers, finding them empty. None of the stacked cardboard boxes looked like the one with our recorded tapes, but something made me check a box that was filled with greying newspapers. I picked up an old-looking clipping, and read the headline.

_Monday, June 27th 1983  
Kids vanish at local pizzeria – bodies not found_

"That's it." I thought after reading the short article, "Those two kids and Marionette were the ones that Dave talked about when he met Walther, they became the two Shadows."

The next newspapers were just different versions of our murders. I realized that this room was the place where the kid's pizzeria I once loved kept its sick secrets. Struggling to push back the bloody memories, I dug deeper into the pile of paper until I finally found something interesting.

_September 12, 1986_

_Brother of Fazbear tragedy victim pleads for further investigation._

_Last night, 13 year-old Michael Schmidt once again walked into the local police department's headquarters without authorization, demanding the investigators not to close down the Fazbear Tragedy case concerning the murder of five children, including Michael's 7 year-old brother Jack. Although the prime suspect of the murders died a few short days after he cut his own wrists, the relentless boy is convinced that the real killer is still out there._

_"I don't care what people think of me." he told our reporter shortly after being escorted out of the police department. "The evidence still doesn't make sense, and the man that killed my little brother is still out there. If the cops can't find him and make him pay for what he did then I will, no matter what or how long it takes."_

I'd smile if I could, because there was still someone out there that wanted justice of us. "Don't give up Mike." I thought, "Please... just don't give up."

Standing up, I began to look for a way out that wasn't the vent where I got lost. I started to walk along and check the walls of the room before finally seeing a dark wooden door that was barely visible in the lightless space. Excited, I carelessly jogged to the door, stumbled on something that was tossed on the floor, and without any bit of grace, fell down on my side. Groaning and rubbing the side of my waist, I focused my weak lights on the long, segmented purple thing that was lying innocently on the tiled floor.

It was an animatronic arm; _my _arm.

I crawled to it, picked it up and stared at it with disbelieve. "I missed you, you beautiful piece of metal." I laughed, swinging the severed arm around my neck and walking back to the door… only to open it and find more of the wall.

"Oh, common!" I cried out, punching the uncovered wall… and getting my fist stuck in it. "Stupid cheap walls." I growled, releasing my fist with a furious tug and leaving a hole behind that finally brought some light into the room.

"_Don?!_ Is that you?!" hissed Sean's shocked voice from the other side of the wall, "What… how did you… where…"

"Hi brother." I chuckled, "Umm… I got a bit lost."

After a few minutes and some nagging from my brother I was sitting on the kitchen's floor, cleaning my fur from the annoying white dust that the wall was made of.

"You really are something, aren't you doofus?" laughed Sarah as I brushed off the last bits of plaster.

"We leave you alone for ten minutes, _ten minutes._" added Sean while he shoved a kitchen shelf full of cans and bottles of oil and sauce in front of the huge hole in the wall, "Nice arm by the way."

"I know!" I replied cheerily, looking at the limb on the floor. "But we'll have to wait until we finish the game before we can get Ferny to reattach it."

"All in all, I'd say you got really lucky there." said Sarah, leaning against an oven.

"Yeah…" I hummed, right as the heavy door behind me opened up with a long creak.

Balloons stepped into the room with big, proud strides, crossed his arms, and laughed mockingly. "Three people hiding in the same place?!" he taunted, "And I thought Bugs Bunny was bad at hide and seek…"

* * *

The best part was that Ferny didn't lose because someone went in the girl's bathrooms looking for him. Mini's beak had fallen down again, so she went in there to reattach it in front of the mirror... but then she saw a pair of red ears rising above a toilet stall. Our -most of the time- really smart friend forgot that the stalls were made for little girls, not seven-feet-tall animatronic foxes.

"And I was _so close!"_ he whined, finishing his story while Sean, Sarah, and I giggled cruelly in Party Room 4. "Anyways," he chuckled along, "let's see if I can fix up me ole lad over 'ere."

"You're getting better with the accent!" I said as I was about to hand him over the loose purple arm, when an idea suddenly popped in my mind. "Fer… how similar are Jack's joints and servos to mine?"

"The same." he answered with a shrug. "Why are you ask-" His ears rose up in surprise when he realized what I had in mind. "Brandon, you're not really thinking…"

"Yes I am." My brother and Sarah looked at me with surprised eyes. "It's my arm, and I can do what I want with it."

"Don, are you sure about this?" asked Sean.

"Totally. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I kept breaking my promises?"

* * *

Jack was putting another finished puzzle on top of the stack at his side when we entered Party Room 3. He seemed afraid by the big number of people in the small space.

"It's okay." I whispered softly, sitting in front of him, "They're my friends, and they're good guys, remember?"

"W-why are t-they all here?" he asked nervously, looking at the brown, red and yellow figures with distrust.

"To fix your leg." I answered, "We can do it right now so you can stand up again, but we need to disconnect your battery so you won't feel any pain."

Jack looked at me with sorry eyes, and let his gaze fall down. "I c-can't." he mumbled.

"Yes you can buddy. All you need to do is trust in me." He raised his head again, looking at me in the eyes. "Please, just trust in me. Can you do that?"

He stayed quiet for a few seconds. Then he looked at my friends once again before turning back his head at me, and he nodded slowly. "But… I'm s-still s-scared."

"I'll be here by your side the whole time, and I'll make sure that nothing bad will happen." I promised.

"O… okay." Jack leaned his body forwards while I stood up and walked towards his back. I slowly leaned forwards, expecting him to flinch back when I touched the panel on his back. But Jack remained still and steady as I opened up the panel, reached into his torso and carefully disconnected the power cables from his battery. His body immediately went completely limp.

"Alright…" sighed Ferny, putting the toolbox that he was carrying on the floor, sitting next to Jack's broken leg and pulling his blanket aside, "Let's get to work."

Slowly and carefully, he disassembled the broken knee while my brother did the same to my loose arm, handling the salvaged pieces one by one to Fer. Using his one hand, he reassembled Jack's knee with the parts of my arm while I passed him all kinds of screwdrivers and wrenches. After about half an hour, it was done. My once whole arm was now a hollow useless exoskeleton, all its moving pieces now forming part of Jack's knee. With a final click, Ferny secured the golden knee back to the leg, stood up, and started to tap his foot nervously while I reconnected the power cables to Jack's battery.

"W-what…" he moaned weakly, shaking his head while he woke up.

"It's fixed!" I chuckled as his pinpoint eyes slowly started to shine again, "Try it."

Jack looked doubtfully at his repaired knee, but let out a joyful gasp when it bent. "It's working!" he cried out, moving his leg randomly a few more times. "It's w-working!"

"Nice job Fer." said Sarah, nodding at our mechanic.

"It's nothing guys, really." he dismissed, raising his shoulders. "I'm glad I could do something."

"So, can you stand up?" I asked, walking in front of Jack. "Do you need help?"

Shaking his head, he pushed himself up and took a few small steps, as if testing that everything really worked. Then, all of the sudden, he threw himself at me with open arms. "T-thank you…" he cried, hugging me close, "T-thank you s-so m-much."

Stunned, I looked around to see the joyful eyes of Sarah, Ferny and Sean focused on me and Jack. I slowly wrapped my arm around his quivering shoulders. "It's nothing." I hushed, patting his back, "We help each other, that's what friends are for."

Still sobbing with happiness he let go of me. Instinctively, I stretched out my arm. My brother limped to me and did the same thing, putting his hand on top of mine. He was followed by Ferny's hook and Sarah's yellow wing-hand.

"We haven't done this in a long time." she chuckled.

"True." I replied, "Jack?"

He looked at me with shy, doubtful eyes. "Is i-it okay?" he asked weakly.

"Oh, please!" I laughed back, "Just put your hand on top of Sarah's will you?"

"O… okay." He slowly lowered his big golden hand until it was resting on top of hers.

"THREE!" started Sean,

"TWO!" cried out Ferny,

"ONE!" shouted Sarah,

"FRIENDS TILL THE END!" I finished as the five of us threw our hands up in the air, laughing like there was nothing wrong in the world. For the next few months, we actually believed that.

But nothing lasts forever.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry guys for not saying hello, but I'm kinda in a rush. As always, thanks for your amazing support this past week. I find it truly amazing that you're enjoying this little fic.

Now, I have some big news. This will be the last chap in a while. In a few days, I'll be leaving the peaceful, quiet island where I was born along with my immediate family, friends and pets and move to a big South American capital to start my university, so, kind of a big deal. I'll be really busy, really sad, and overall incapable to write anything halfway decent.

So, how long is a while? Hopefully less than a month from now. In any case, I'll post an update to let you know when exactly I'll start putting up new chaps. I'm praying that I'll be able to keep updating weekly after I get more-or-less settled down, but I won't make any promises. You guys have been incredibly supportive so far, and I have no plans to leave you hanging. This thing will go on, but I'll need some time.

So, that's that. In the mean time, stay safe, and happy reading and writing.


	19. Update

**Update: Thank you, future chaps, and FNaF 4**

Hey guys, hope everything is alright with you. I know it's been a while, and I know this isn't chapter 19, but there are a few things that I felt had to be said. I actually wanted to post this update this last Sunday, but I've been really busy these past weeks; sorry for keeping you all waiting. First of all, let me start by thanking you for your patience, support and kind wishes. So far, college is okay; not really hard as much as hectic. Moving to another country isn't exactly easy, so yeah. Excuses aside, I'm beginning to get a bit more used to this new rhythm and I hope I can start making a bit more time to write.

Now, I said this before and I'll say it again: I am not giving up on this story :) How could I? Writing this has been really fun so far, your comments are a huge motivation, and the experience has been great. I have started with Ch. 19, however finding a good moment to write isn't as easy as it used to be. But, as the song says… the show must go on! And, believe me, it will. I think you can expect the next update the Sunday after this one; that's the 16th of August. I tried to get it done for this Sunday, but I simply couldn't. I'm afraid that the next chapters won't come as often as before. Sure, I could rush them, make them shorter and say every week: "Here it is!" …but that just wouldn't be me. I like to take my time writing, so this story can be something I can be satisfied with, even if it's far from perfect. However, I don't think one update every two weeks will be necessary. I think it's gonna be something like 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 week, 2 weeks, etc. But we'll see; think of this as a trial period. One thing is certain: I think I'll stick to the Sunday schedule we know.

Finally, FNaF 4. I just wanted to say… _really? _Really, Scott? I mean, I _knew _you wouldn't wait till Halloween. I even had the huge hunch you'd move the release date to the 8th of August, FNaF's (and Don's if you still remember) birthday. But would it have killed you to wait just two weeks?! Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad. Heck, I actually really liked the game itself. It's just that it took me by complete surprise! And what a game! I honestly got a headache trying to figure out the whole thing, and yes, I have my theories. I actually thought about writing a 3-4 chapter fic on the thing, but the truth is I already have my hands full. Maybe after I'm done with this, after the Halloween DLC's come out, who knows?

So, is FNaF 4 going to be present in this fic? I'd have to say… no… for now. I say this because even whilst I'm trying to stick to my first plan as much as possible, some things ended up being so incredibly different from what I originally planned that I can't help but shake my head at them.

I wanted to finish this by giving FNaF a huge happy birthday wish! Yes, I know it's technically tomorrow, but what's less than 24 hours? And can you believe all the things what these little games have accomplished in only a year? Great things have come from those games, and I hope they won't be forgotten soon.

So, that's it! Sorry for the long babble, but I just wanted to cover everything. Thank you once again guys for your support, and I'll see you in a week. Until then, happy writing and happy reading :)


	20. The new game

**A/N: **Hey guys, and welcome back! Man... it's been so long. But, you've been patient, you've been supportive, so as a little reward here is the longest chap to date! But please don't expect every single chapter from now on to be _this_ long. I'm barely able to find time to write nowadays, so please keep that in mind. Nevertheless, I'm excited for the future of this fic, and this chap should give you an idea of where we're going to.

But boy oh boy did we come a long way. Guys, you did it! Thank you so much for 100+ reviews! When I published the first chap almost five months ago I never, _never _thought it'd come to this. From the bottom of my heart, thank you again and happy reading.

Oh, and finally, we reached the answer to life, the universe and everything when it comes to follows! There'll be virtual cookies to anyone that gets that reference :)

* * *

**Chapter 20: The new game**

It was another late October afternoon. Outside, leafs were dressing up in their autumn colors, ready to lay themselves down in big orange and brown patches for the kids to play with and for the grown-ups to clean. Pumpkins were being carved, costumes were being sown, and candy was being bought; the world went on with its ever-changing rhythm almost a year and three months after that rainy Tuesday.

But here, in the still closed-down pizzeria, few things had changed over the past four months. Today, Ferny was reading one of his books, Sarah was watching some cartoons in the security office with Mangle and Balloons, and Junior and Mini were punishing the arcades while Marionette kept a good eye on them. Basically, everyone was being nice and quiet.

Well… _almost _everyone.

"Ready?!" I yelled out, walking backwards and pulling along the wheeled chair from the security office with TB on top until I was against the back wall of the Game Area.

"Heck yeah!" he answered with confidence, tightening his light blue fingers around the handles of the office chair as he tried to take a more solid position.

"Umm, Bon?" called out my brother nervously, standing up next to the carousel, "Are you _sure _this is a good idea?" Sitting a few feet next to him, Jack looked at me with the same skeptical eyes.

"C'mon Freddy, we did this a lot of times!" I replied smugly, remembering the late afternoons we played with Dad's office chair in our small apartment. No wonder the neighbors never liked us; half the floor had to take sleeping pills because of our games.

"Yeah, but we were… I mean _that_ was… eh… different." stuttered Sean.

"True," I admitted, "this chair is much better." As if to prove my point, I gave the nylon backrest a little pat. My brother must've given up then, because he just sighed, raised his shoulders, and sat back down.

"Okay TB, at the count of three." I whispered, lowering my head next to his. "One… two…"

"Wait!" interrupted my counterpart. He quickly opened his chest's frontal plate and pulled the fake rose from the piece of tape that stuck it to his inside. Then, turning his head and bright eyes at me, he handled me over the plastic flower. "It's your turn."

"Thanks little me." I said softly, grabbing the bent and twisted stem before putting the thing inside my own chest. "All set now?"

"Sure am!" he replied cheerily before twisting around and clenching his hydraulic fists around the handles.

"Alright then. One… two… THREE!"

I broke out in a little sprint, pushing ahead the chair and the squealing TB with my only arm until we reached the dinner tables. Then, I let go of him. He let out a whopping "WOO-HOO!" as the spinning chair sped past the tables and arcades before bumping against a stray dinner chair. The rolling piece of furniture wobbled a bit before finally tipping over, sending TB on a long slide across the tiled floor that stopped only when his head banged loudly against the little side door of the Game Area.

"You okay?!" My brother and I shouted at the same time, our ears rising up in alarm as we jogged and limped to him. A bit in front of us, Mini and Junior let go of the arcade's controls to go to the thrown-down figure with Marionette right behind.

"Ouchie…" TB slowly rubbed a side of his head and sat back up. "I think I hit something else than the door."

"Looks like that old newspaper saved your little shiny head." teased Mini, pointing a small yellow hand at the crumbled-up paper in a plastic bag that was leaning against the door.

"Aah… I see." Still sitting on the floor, TB grabbed the package, tore off the plastic wrapping effortlessly and laid down the creased newspaper before looking through it. I thought that he was going to just see the comics since he wasn't a big reader, but he suddenly stopped turning the pages and, petrified, stared at a grey page.

"What is it?" I asked, kneeling down in front of him.

"Great news!" he chirped as he raised his overjoyed eyes from the page to me, "We're going to open up soon Mr. Bonnie!" He shoved the paper to me.

I looked down at the little add with the three main Toys on it. "Help wanted." I read out loud as my heart sank, "Grand re-opening…" I threw down the thing, and letting out a sigh, dropped my head.

"This is great!" chuckled Junior, snatching the paper from TB's hands, "We can _finally _go on the stage and sing songs!"

"And I can play guitar!" added TB joyfully.

"I'm sure Ms. Chica and cap Foxy will be so happy!" squealed Mini, almost jumping up and down in excitement, "Let's see who can get to them first."

"Oh, this time you're going _down _Small Bird." boasted Junior as he bent his knees to run off.

"We'll see about that Boo-Boo Bear." huffed back the yellow Toy, "Ready, set, GO!"

And just like that, the three Toys ran out of the Game Area, laughing loudly as their heavy footsteps echoed away. Marionette, my brother, Jack and I remained alone in the big, quiet room.

"Umm, Puppet," started Sean before clearing his throat, "what happened to us… it can't happen to them, right?"

Marionette's white pinpoints dimmed slightly as he dropped his head. "Yes." he answered weakly, "When the place gets a night guard, we…" he sighed, "we _all_… will be taken over. Just like you were over a year ago."

"But there must be something you can do!" I cried out, looking up at him with expectation, "You have the mind seal, right? You can help us out, block off our evil side like you did with my fear and the Toys' memories!"

"You think I haven't tried Pizza Boy?!" answered the slender figure, "I don't know everything, alright? What happened and will happen is out of my control. I don't know how Walther did it, but I…" his tone became low and helpless, "…I can't do anything."

The room fell into silence once again. Over the last few months I'd learned to trust Marionette. After all, he put himself at risk by telling me the whole story behind the blood seals and our murders the very first day I met him. But I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was a piece of the puzzle missing, or left out.

"It's the truth Brandon." he whispered, reading my mind. "What do I win by lying?"

I nodded. "I believe you Puppet. But I think we have to tell the Toys, warn them maybe."

"But it won't help at all!" he looked down at me pleadingly, "If you go out there now and tell them the truth about what they are and what will happen to us, will it change anything? Please, just let them be happy while they can. Let them be the kids they should be."

My ears dropped down along with my head; he was right. It was then that I felt a heavy hand rest down on my downed shoulder.

"We will figure something out Don." soothed my brother as he patted my shoulder, "We're together in this, don't you forget that."

I nodded, not saying anything. A minute or two passed before I turned around and looked at Jack, who was silently tracing circles on the checkered floor.

"Jack, come over here buddy." I called out in a flat tone. He stood up and walked to me in silence before sitting down by my side. "You know what will happen, right?"

"Y-Yes." he mumbled sadly as his head went down.

"Alright. Remember that last time you didn't turn evil like us?" He nodded. "I don't know why that didn't happen, but I want you to promise me something." Slowly and shyly, Jack raised his head to look me in the eyes.

"Promise me that you will hide, and do _everything_ you have to do to keep yourself safe..."

"Sure, I-I will." he said breezily.

"…even if that means hurting me."

Jack's eyes filled with shock and terror. "N-No…" he whimpered, shaking his head desperately, "I c-can't! You k-know I can't d-do that!"

"Promise me." I repeated slowly, "I don't want to hurt you or anyone else again. So please… promise me."

He looked away from me, and after a long silence, gave me the smallest of nods. "I… I promise." He mumbled quietly.

"Thank you." I looked around the darkened Game Area as a feeling of dread and nostalgia came over me. "What will happen after we open up?" I asked, facing Marionette.

"I honestly don't know." he sighed, turning around to walk to the Prize Corner, "But for now, we'll just have to wait and see."

I nodded and pushed myself up before helping Sean get on his feet. Jack stood up and followed us as we started walking back towards the Main Hall. We didn't know what to expect of tomorrow, but one thing was certain.

Our little time of peace was over.

* * *

"You think they're alright?" asked Ferny nervously, his voice cutting through the faint sounds of playing children that rung through the service room. It surprised us how many kids came this first day, and how many were still around right now as the place was closing.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they are." I replied, trying to sound calmer than I was. Is this how Mom and Dad felt the first day I went to school?

"They should be, especially after that lecture we gave them." added Sean, "Heh… though they _were_ disappointed when we told them that they wouldn't actually sing."

"Yeah, but then they'll free-roam around between shows!" countered Fer, "What if something bad happens with all those kids around?"

"What could possibly go wrong?" said Sarah, lying a broken yellow wrist on his tattered red shoulder, "You're worrying too much. And Mangle's gonna be okay too; she said that she wouldn't mind as long as they don't break anything important. Plus, you can always fix her up, right?"

"Well," he shrugged, "that depends on what you call 'fix'. I can only do so much."

We then heard some peppy voice call out through the building's speakers that Freddy Fazbear's was going to close now, but would open again tomorrow for another day of fantasy and fun. After a few minutes, the kids' voices started disappearing, until there was just silence.

I felt a finger touch my shoulder and turned around to see Jack's glowing pinpoint eyes. "I'm… I'm a bit s-scared." he whispered softly.

"You're gonna be okay buddy." I hushed, laying my hand on his shoulder, "Just be careful."

He nodded, right as we heard some footsteps approach us until they stopped outside the room. The five of us quickly scrambled back to our places just in time. The door swung open, and a couple of familiar men, one in his purple security guard uniform and the other in a formal white shirt, looked keenly at us from the lit-up Main Hall.

"See, they're fine!" reassured Erik, leaning against the doorframe, "I don't know why you were worried."

"I… umm… I had a bad feeling." mumbled Dave, "I thought something happened to them."

"You _actually _like the damn things!" chuckled back the manager as he shook his head.

The head security guard smiled and raised his shoulders. "Yeah… there's just something about those old models, you know?"

"Not really, the new ones are so much better! It's like they have a mind of their own!" Grinning smugly, Erik pointed at his own head. "We're gonna make buckets of money with those things. Hell, I might even give you and Fritz a rise." Dave looked at his superior with wide, surprised eyes.

"_Ha!_ Just kidding!" laughed Erik as he pinched away a tear, "Anyways, is the new guy coming or not?"

"Kevin told us that he'd be here before midnight. It's barely eight-thirty."

"Then call him and ask him to come sooner!" demanded the manager, "Tell him that we'll pay him overtime or something. Since your old pal called me again I don't want to leave the place alone for all that time."

"Walther is _not _my friend!" growled Dave, "And do you think making the guard work _more _hours is a good idea after what happened to Caleb?!"

"He was lying Dave!" Erik raised up his hands like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You know as well as me that those animatronics," he pointed at us, "can't do a damn thing_._"

"Then who killed Caleb?" asked Dave calmly and coldly.

Irritated, Erik turned around and stomped away from the man in purple. "Just call the kid, alright?" he mumbled from a distance. Dave sighed, and looking at us once more with puzzled eyes, closed the door of the parts and service room.

* * *

After a long time we finally heard the main doors open and close. I stood up hastily, stepped into the Main Hall and almost jogged to the Show Stage with everyone else close behind. TB and Mini waved cheerily at me as they watched me approach; Junior tipped his hat.

"You guys okay?" I asked nervously, stopping in front of the stage.

"It was great Mr. Bonnie!" beamed Mini, "The kids were really nice and we actually played together."

"You… you did?" I stuttered, baffled by her answer.

"Yeah, walking around the place was amazing!"

"And being controlled during the show didn't hurt?" asked Sarah, stepping by my side.

Junior shook his head energetically. "We didn't even feel anything!"

"And the lass Mangle?" continued Ferny, "She alright?"

TB climbed off the stage. "Don't worry cap Foxy, I'll go check on her." He was about to go to the Kid's Cove, when he turned around and waved at me. "See you later Mr. Bonnie!" he chirped.

"See ya." I replied weakly as he walked away; they had no idea.

"Umm, Bonnie?" called out Sarah behind me. I turned around quickly to see her, Sean, Ferny and Jack staring at the rattling doorknob of the Game Area's door.

"The guard." I hissed anxiously, "What do we do now?"

"No time to hide!" shouted Sean, "Just… don't move!"

The door swung open and a slender beam of yellow light cut through the darkness of the large room before resting on each one of us. Holding a flashlight in one hand and a can of soda in the other, the teen in purple uniform stepped into the building and walked to the middle of the room.

"I thought you guys weren't supposed to move." he mumbled, more surprised than scared. "Guess I'll have to tell Mr. Hobbs in the morning." He casually walked towards the Main Hall between the frozen Sean and Sarah. Before turning around the corner to the party rooms, he flashed us with his light once more. "I have to say…" he turned off the flashlight, fastened it to his belt and cracked open his soda, "…you're _freaking_ _creepy_ at night."

Making sure not to move a gear I followed the man with my eyes, until he was out of sight.

"Aww, c'mon!" whined Sarah as soon as it was safe, "We're not so scary if you see us in the daylight!"

"Except for you Ms. Chica!" teased Mini behind me. None of us could resist and we all started laughing.

"Alright, that was a good one mini-me." giggled Sarah, "But I don't think we should make a lot of noi-"

Her happy voice cut off abruptly and turned into a hiss of pain as a side of her torso started to glow softly in a blood-red hue. Clutching at her chest, she stumbled backwards before falling on her knees.

"MS. CHICA!" Mini and Junior cried out at the same time, jumping off the stage and running towards the knelt-down yellow figure with me right behind. Ferny and my brother stared at each other with fear and surprise. Jack was frozen on his feet, looking at the groaning Sarah with horror.

"It can't be." I thought as I knelt down in front of her, "It's too early, it's _way _too early!"

"B-Bonnie…" she moaned, raising her pleading eyes to mine, "Get h-him out of h-here…"

Knowing exactly who she meant I nodded, before another heart-stopping scream made me turn around in haste.

Junior was lying sideways on the floor, cringing and twisting around. "Wh… what's going on with me…" he cried, looking in fear at his own chest that was lit up in an evil red. Mini covered her beak in shock, her light blue eyes flooded with fright.

Ferny rushed to them before he too let out a short cry and fell down on the floor with a heavy _clang_. "P-please…" he rasped as his tattered torso started to glow, "I d-don't want… don't want t-to do t-this again…"

Almost simultaneously, the yellow, brown and red silhouettes started to twitch violently on the floor; their eyes flickering on and off as they slowly lost control. I stood up quickly, ran towards Jack and tightly grabbed his arm, waking him up from his trance of terror. "We need to go, _now." _I hissed. He nodded nervously without making a sound. I turned around and pulled him along the Game Area where three, no, four mechanical bodies were twisting and twitching on the floor; Mini was now in the same position as Junior. I was almost through when I felt something tug back at Jack.

"Where do you think you're going?" cooed Foxy, looking up at me with his dead yellow eyes as he tightened his hold on Jack's foot, "I thought you liked playing with us Bonnie!"

"Fer, please fight back!" I begged, getting back a toothy grin from the animatronic.

"Never heard of him." he said innocently, right as a big brown foot slammed itself on top of Foxy's red arm. He snarled in pain, let go of Jack's foot and growled at my brother.

"I'm so sorry Ferny." sighed Sean, looking down at the raging figure with pity. "Don, I'll keep them busy as long as I can, but you have to hurry up."

"Thanks brother." I whispered, turning my back to him and running towards the kitchen with Jack. I slammed the door open with my shoulder, dodging the empty boxes of dough and cheese until I was in front of the main shelf.

"I'm gonna need your help here buddy." I said as I started to push the heavy thing aside. Jack grabbed the other side of the shelf and quickly pulled it back, revealing the huge hole in the wall that led to the secret room I discovered by accident months ago. He reluctantly stepped into the darkness of the room, and looked at me with pained white eyes as I started to shove the shelf back in place.

My ears shot up when I heard a short cry coming from my brother, followed by a series of dark laughs from everyone else. "You're gonna be alright Jack…" I groaned, my gears and servos screeching as I closed back the hole. I looked at his glowing eyes through the last narrow gap between the shelf and the wall, "…I promise."

With a last push, the shelf was back in place. Completely exhausted, I slumped against the nearest wall and fell on the floor. It was then that I heard the kitchen door open.

"Mr. Bonnie!" yelled TB, running towards me. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine." I wheezed, "What's happening out there?"

"Everyone is acting so… weird. They're talking about playing with the guard. I don't know why, but it scared me."

"Maybe he's like Jack," I thought, "maybe he can't be taken over."

Confused, I saw how TB pointed at me with a shaky finger. "Umm, Mr. Bonnie?" he gasped.

"Yeah?"

"What's happening to your chest?"

I slowly lowered my head to look at my red-glowing side, right as a burning pain shot through my body. "TB, g-get outta here." I groaned, looking up at his shocked eyes.

"But you're hurt! I can't leave you if you're hurt!"

My body started to bend over from the pain as I tried desperately to stay in control. "This is d-different. I… I'm n-not hurt… but I c-could hurt you…"

"That's not true, you're my best friend!" he whimpered.

"I am… t-that's why… I'm b-begging you… t-to run!" I clenched my fist as the pain got worse, "He's… he's s-stronger now… I c-can't…"

My body started to twitch uncontrollably on the floor as the whole world seemed to flicker on and off. My mind filled up with darkness, and I slowly felt how a strange cold crept into me. I tried to fight back, but then I thought… why bother?

"Mr. Bonnie, are you better now?" asked a strange voice as I stopped twitching.

"Oh, I'm _much _better now!" I beamed, standing up and dusting off my knees. The smaller version of me seemed strangely familiar, like I'd seen him before somewhere. "Are you going to play with us?"

The light blue thing started to walk backwards away from me. "T-That's… that's what _they_ were saying."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his terrified and pathetic stutter. "Aww, what's wrong little guy?" I taunted as he fell on his back and crawled to the corner of the room, "Scared of a little game?"

"W-what game are you t-talking about?" he asked shakily.

"Simple. Let's say that the night guard is an endoskeleton without his costume on. Do you know what has to be done then?" He shook his head. "We go out and help him get into a suit! Isn't that nice?"

"No it's not! That could kill him!" shot back the little animatronic, looking up at me with anger, "I don't know who you are, but you're _not_ Mr. Bonnie!"

I sighed and shook my head. "How rude… you know, you remind me of someone else who didn't want to play along with us. Do you know what happened to him?" When he started to shake his head again I grabbed one of his ears and yanked it up, making him whimper in pain before I swung him against the opposite wall. "Yeah, the beginning was something like that."

The small thing started to get up, only to fall down again on his hands and knees. It was then that I saw him clutching at his side as it started to glow in a beautiful, bright red. "What… what's happening?" he panted.

"Don't worry little guy," I purred as he started to cringe and groan in pain, "you'll feel better soon enough."

His body then started to twitch on the floor like he was being electrocuted; his bright green eyes flashing on and off like a broken lightbulb. Suddenly, it all stopped just as fast as it started. He was spread out on the floor, not making the smallest movement.

"So, what do you say now?" I asked after a few seconds.

Raising his head, the blue animatronic slowly started to push himself up until he was sitting against the wall. Satisfied, I looked at his cold and empty green eyes; the eyes of a killer. "You know what?" he whispered, letting out a vicious and wicked grin, "I think I'll like that new game."

* * *

**A/N: **What? You thought it'd all be be sugar and spice after Tape 1? _Haha!_ You know me better than that! So, will Kevin... Survive the Night? (And yes, Sarah's dialogue was a reference to that song.) What will happen to Jack? Will I stop asking these cliche and unnecessary questions at the end of every chap? Find out next Sunday, and...

*Checks university's e-mail account* Wait, what?! Exams next week already?! *sigh* Guys, I'll have to ask you for two weeks. I'm sorry, but hey, you waited five weeks for this! Besides, an 'interesting' character will come back next time, and you're in for a reveal! And now that I made you more impatient (sorry about that) see you in 14 days and take care.


	21. A night of shadows

**A/N: **Hey guys, welcome back! Happy Sunday/Monday; my timezone makes things slightly confusing now. Anyways, happy day! Let me start by thanking you for your flattering reviews last time. Honestly guys, it's still incredible and amazing for me to see that you're enjoying this fic. Thanks a lot and make sure to keep up your honest feedback. Remember, I'm very open to constructive criticism and I appreciate it very much when someone lets me know that they found an error.

Now, this chap is quite... interesting. Ever wondered what goes through the minds of the animatronics as they go to kill you? Well, fret no more! We got to know our Dr. Jekylls pretty well throughout the story. Now, it's time to meet the Mr. Hydes! Happy reading guys, see you at the bottom.

* * *

**Chapter 21: A night of shadows**

"Oh, Bucky..." I called out warmly as I walked to the door of the third Party Room, "where are you hiding now little bear?"

I swung open the door, only to find the usual darkness and silence. I sighed and shook my head in frustration. "You know, you better come out and join us before I find you," My sweet tone turned into a low, furious growl, "because I _hate_ rule breakers!"

I waited in vain for some kind of answer, hoping to somehow hear a reply from the empty room.

"Alright then," I whispered, "I was nice and tried to give you a second chance. But the next time I see you, do yourself a favor and pray." I raised my tone and tightened my fist. "Pray that I'll be in a good mood after killing this guard, or I won't stop tearing you apart piece by piece until you're a pile of scrap metal SCATTERED ON THE FLOOR! YOU HEAR ME YOU COWARD!"

My rage-filled roar echoed through the room before it died out, again leaving me with nothing but silence as an answer. Almost fuming with wrath I turned around to see Freddy's cold eyes staring at me from the dark and lonely hallway. "Are you finally done Bon?" he asked flatly, leaning against a wall.

I turned around and cast a last angry look at the darkened room. "For now."

"Just leave him. We don't need him anyways." he raised his shoulders nonchalantly. "We'll get him next time."

"Alright." I muttered reluctantly, "But he won't get a second chance from me after that."

"As you wish."

"And the new versions?"

"The Toys? They can't wait to start!" chuckled the bear as he pushed himself off the wall. Bubbling with excitement, I followed him back to the service room. The needles of the clock on the wall were almost on top of each other. It was almost midnight.

It was almost playtime.

* * *

3 AM. For one second, the flashlight above us lit up the gloomy service room with an almost unbearable light. Irritated, I slowly raised my head to see the blinking red LED of the security camera. The thing scanned Freddy, Chica and me for one second before it turned off again, along with the flashlight.

"My turn!" I stated happily as I pushed myself up and walked with confidence to the room's door. Like a hunting shark in the water I fell at home in the heavy, almost physical darkness of the Main Hall; the shadows that would make humans turn around in fear were my element. Turning my head to the right, I saw how the terrified guard shone his flashlight erratically at the giggling Toy Bonnie and Chica, making me smirk with satisfaction. We had generously decided to give them a little head start, as long as they kept true to our deal of waiting till the last moment to finish off the doomed man. After all, he had no chance to survive the night. And why rush the fun? We wanted to play with our new toy as long as we could before finally breaking it.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAKS! cried out the panicked guard while the blue and yellow Toys crawled back into the vents of his office. The teen then turned around hastily to flash his light at the hallway, and at me. "You too?!" he blurted out with a voice drenched in anger and fear.

I started to slowly walk towards his lit-up office, making him cower behind his desk and hide his head in his hands. As soon as his eyes weren't on me, I slipped into the first party room and waited in front of the security camera. After a few moments, the little red light of the camera turned on, letting me know that my prey was watching me with horror. I stared directly at the lens before waving friendly at it. Then, chuckling with amusement, I raised my hand to slowly trace an imaginary line along the front of my throat with my index finger.

"I'm coming for you meatbag!" I said sweetly, not caring that the guard couldn't hear me. Like a man frozen in fear the camera kept its lens on me for a long time before it turned off again. Satisfied, I crawled into a vent and started to head back to the service room. That was fun!

* * *

5 AM. We all got our chance to terrify and torture the guard, but sadly, it was time to finish the game. The Toys were still out there taunting the man by going in and out of his office, waiting for us to end him. The problem now was who would get to do that.

"But _I_ want to kill him!" whined Chica, crossing her yellow arms defiantly as she sat down on her spot in the Service Room.

"It'll be better for you to watch and learn." countered Foxy, "Besides, he surely doesn't stand a chance against me. Step up lads, 'cause it'll be two-zero after tonight!"

"Cocky Foxy." hummed the chicken, "You only won because you were right outside the door at that time."

"Yeah," added Freddy, "and because Bonnie slowed us down."

Everyone looked at me with their cold and accusatory eyes. Like a scolded child I turned my head away from them. "Not my fault." I huffed bitterly, "That stupid, stubborn_ brat_ is hard to take over."

"You're technically the same person doofus." taunted Chica, making Foxy and Freddy snicker at me.

"He's _not _me!" I snapped, "My name is Bonnie, that kid is dead, and there's nothing more to it."

"Aww, calm down Bon." soothed Freddy, "Those kids can fight as much as they want, but we all know how this is going to end. They can only last for so long before turning into us. At the end, evil always wins."

"Then we'll be able to play _all _we want!" added Foxy joyfully.

"And without any pesky interruptions." finished Chica.

I nodded enthusiastically before pushing myself up. "How about we share the prize today?" I proposed, "No winners, no losers, just us and the meatbag."

"I like that idea Bonnie." grunted Freddy as he stood up and limped to the door. Soon, the four of us were making our way to the office. The pallid guard turned on his flashlight just in time to see me slowly dragging my hand on the wall, making a piercing scraping noise as we neared him. At the same time, all five Toys crawled out of the vents and into his office.

"MONSTERS!" shrieked the man as the nine of us closed in on him like a pack of hungry wolves, laughing at his terror, "You're all MONSTERS!" He started to walk backwards to the corner with the two filing cabinets, only to stumble on the trashcan next to his desk and fall on the floor. "I didn't do ANYTHING to you!" Tears started to mix with the beads of sweat on his face as our shadows covered his thrown-down figure.

"So…" started Freddy, taking a step towards the man. "What do you say guys? Do we let him bleed out like last time, snap his neck, rip him apart slowly…"

"Let's see…" hummed my counterpart, "I think there's a spare suit that'll fit him just right!"

"Oh no, but I think it's a bit too small!" mocked Toy Chica sarcastically, "What do we do now?"

Unable to hear what we were saying the guard looked back and forth at us, now as confused as afraid. He crawled away further until his back was against the cabinet with the empty Freddy head on top.

"Don't worry!" answered Foxy brightly, "With a _little _push, I'm sure we'll manage to squeeze him in there alright. But off course," he let out his version of a twisted, hungry smile, "I'm afraid it'll be a bit tight for him."

We all laughed heartily at his joke, knowing perfectly well what would happen to the man.

"Alright then!" chirped Freddy as he bent down in front of the whimpering young man, "I hope you like the color brown."

The guard balled his fists at the huge robotic bear in front of him. "What are you trying to do, kill me?!" he snarled, "You're nothing more than a bunch of creepy ass, children animat-"

His insult turned into a desperate groan of pain as Freddy's hand clamped down on his throat. "I know you can't hear us," whispered the animatronic before hoisting the squirming man into the air, "so take that as our answer to your bad manners."

The young man's face began to turn as purple as his uniform while he tried to desperately land a punch or a kick on Freddy's body; but the teenager was throwing pebbles at a tank. We laughed mockingly at his pathetic struggles that grew weaker with each second. With his last bit of strength, the young man blindly kicked the filing cabinet behind him, making the empty head tilt on its side, roll off the top of the cabinet and land perfectly on the guard's head. Freddy immediately let go of the man and took a step back.

"What's wrong with you?!" asked Foxy angrily, "You're just going to let him go? We don't have much time left!"

"We're not allowed to touch any empty head." explained the bear, "Did you forget the rules?"

I remembered immediately when Walther first explained the game's rules to us. He said that we couldn't touch any empty head or endoskeleton unless it was the suit we were going to stuff the guard into.

"Yeah, but he also said that we had to do _everything _we could do to kill our target!"

"Who are they talking about?" asked Toy Freddy behind me, looking at how the older animatronics started to argue heatedly.

"An old friend." I answered without turning around to face him, unable to make up my mind. Both of them were right in their own way.

"Guys!" Chica stepped between the brown and red figures as the debate started to get dangerously passionate, and pulled them apart slightly with her broken wrists. "We _all_ want to kill him now, but rules are rules Foxy." She faced the fox who only stared back at her with a blank expression.

"It's a shame, but she's right." I said flatly, "We have to follow the rules, always_._"

Foxy let out a low, rolling growl when he realized that he was alone in his reasoning. "Fine then." he mumbled casually, "You can just stay there if you want, but I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty!" In a sudden dash, he dodged his way around Chica and Freddy, and yanked the stunned man up with his good hand. Before anyone could protest he held the tip of his hook against the man's throat.

"I warned you, _lads,_" he whispered darkly, "that it would be two-zero after tonight!"

He pulled back his hooked hand and swung the sharp piece of metal at the man's neck… but Foxy's body suddenly froze as the office's alarm clock started to beep monotonously.

6 AM. The glow in the fox' eyes faded away while his metallic body started to lean sideways, before it collapsed to the floor. Then, one by one, the animatronics fell down like dead trees; the lights of their eyes dimming slowly as they lost consciousness.

After less than half a minute, the masked guard and me were the only ones standing. We exchanged glances for one second. Then, I burst out in laughs at our pathetic loss.

"You… you l-lucky meatbag!" I wheezed as my vision started to grow dark, "We… we were _so close!_" I fell to my knees, my body weakened by my laughter; or was it the fact that my time was up? "Next time, _I _will be the first to play." I raised my head to look directly into the man's terrified, teary eyes under the headpiece. I was now growling with anger and frustration. "Next time, _I _will be the one to kill you!"

The sounds around me faded away, and all I could see was black. Defeated, I let myself fall down. "Enjoy what little time you have left, brat." I muttered mentally, "Because soon, the only thing that will be left of you, will be _me!_" With that last thought, I lost myself in a deep, dark sleep.

* * *

I woke up with a gasp. Through my hazy sight, I realized that I was in the security office along with everyone else. I began to fear the worse, but I let out a sigh of relief as the last memories of what had just happened came back to me.

The guard had survived the night.

"Bonnie?" I heard Ferny say as he approached my thrown-down body, "Ye alright?" He stretched out his hook to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I grabbed the curved metal and let him pull me up. "That was…"

"Bad." he whispered, "But not as bad as last time." I nodded as he sighed. "I was so close to kill again…"

"But nothing happened, right? Everything is fine!"

Just as I said that, a soft whimper made my ears rise. I turned around to see a melancholic Junior and Mini sitting next to a crying TB, who covered his eyes with his hands as he sobbed helplessly. Balloons and Mangle were sitting against a wall close to the vent, looking down at the floor with gloomy eyes. My brother and Sarah stared blankly at the miserable-looking Toys. I could barely recognize the band of cheery and happy kids that we were mere days ago. Strangely, Marionette was nowhere to be seen.

I walked up to the three main Toys, and knelt in front of TB. "Hey little me." I whispered softly, trying to hide away my own guilt, "It's okay, he got away."

"Wh-what's w-wrong with m-me?" He uncovered his face to look up at me with his pained green eyes. "The m-man was right… I'm…" He buried his head in his arms as he cried out in a heart-breaking wail "I'm a MONSTER!"

"Don't say that!" I replied, more sternly than I wanted, "Would a monster play hide and seek with my friends? Would a monster play Pac-Man for me because I'm missing an arm? Would he stay and watch fireworks with me through the night?" TB looked up at me with slight confusion; his sobbing was becoming weaker. "You're not a monster, you're my friend. The only monster here is whoever makes us do these things!"

My counterpart shook his head slightly. "It… it still feels terrible…"

"I know little me." I opened my chest and pulled out the plastic rose, holding it in front of him. "But we have each other and our friends. We'll get through this together, I promise."

Still sniffing, TB grabbed the flower from my hand and looked down at it with slightly brighter eyes. "Thank you Mr. Bonnie." he whispered.

"Anytime." I ruffled his ears, making him giggle softly as he lowered his head a bit. "Now, there's someone I need to check on. I'll be right back, okay?"

He nodded while I stood up and stepped into the corridor of the party rooms. I walked past the Main Hall and into the Game Area towards the kitchen and opened the door. The shelf that covered the entrance to the secret room was perfectly in place, adding to my sense of relief. Then I heard it.

"NO! G-GO AWAY!" Jack was screaming behind the shelf, terrified and desperate.

With a new sense of distress I sprinted to the piece of furniture. "Jack, it's me!" I called out as I leaned my shoulder against the wood of the shelf and began to push with all my strength. "Stay calm, I'm coming buddy!"

My servos squealed and my joints burned as I slowly pushed the heavy thing aside, uncovering the hole in the wall. From the far corner of the small, dark room, Jack looked at me with his terrified pinpoint eyes, just like a year ago. But this time, he wasn't afraid of me.

"What's wrong?" I panted, kneeling down in front of him. He was trembling intensely, and it wasn't until now that I realized how cold the room was; it was like stepping into a freezer. I knew I'd felt this kind of cold before, but I didn't remember where.

"H-h-he's…he's…" he stuttered, staring blankly at something in another part of the room and pointing a trembling finger at it.

"Yes?" I asked calmly.

"H-he's bee… b-b-behind you!"

I quickly turned around to see what he was pointing at. There, in the darkest corner of the room, two dead and empty white eyes looked at us with an almost friendly interest. Below the two orbs a bright, skeletal smile appeared out of thin air.

"H-hellooo b-bud-d-dy!" greeted Shadow Bonnie as it stepped towards us, blocking the exit with its pitch black and flickering body, "I'm SO gl-glaaaad you j-j-joined our party!" Terrified, I crawled back next to Jack as the giggling Shadow made its way to us. "Be n-n-nice and sssstillll…" it purred, "And s-s-soon we'll ALL b-be the s-s-same... WE'LL ALL BE FRIENDS!"

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you like cliffhangers ;)

Luckily for us, I'm mostly clear this week, so expect the next chap in 7 days. Until then, stay safe and stay calm. See ya!


	22. Blood seals and phone calls

**A/N: **Hey guys, hope you had a nice week hanging from a cliff ;)

This one was a very fun and exciting chapter to write. But before you begin, I highly recommend you to reread the last part of chapter 13, since a lot of info that's said there will suddenly become _very important _from now on. Also, this one turned out just a little bit shorter than what you've been getting lately. That's because there simply wasn't too much to say. This is mostly a way to clear the path for what's coming soon, now that we're nearing some important tipping points.

One last thing: You'll be getting the next chap in two weeks. My apologies, but the next weekend I'll have some family staying with me, plus this will be a pretty hectic week at college. Well, that and I honestly don't have a solid plan for writing what's about to come. But I do promise you one thing: the next few chapters will be... hmm, how should I say this...

Biting.

* * *

**Chapter 22: Blood seals and phone calls**

Taken over by panic I crawled on my back until I was cornered next to Jack. I turned my head frantically in hopes of finding something, _anything, _that could save us. A flashlight, a matchbox, a lighter... as long as it gave out light, it was welcome.

But there was nothing in the dark room besides old boxes, a dust-covered Spring, and the smiling Shadow that crept towards us.

"Wh-wh-what's wrooong friend-ds?" it asked with that same high-pitched and childish, yet at the same time grave and nightmarish voice, "C'mon, d-don't be shyyyy... we j-j-just want someone to plaaaay with!"

Realizing that there was no way out, I turned around to look at Jack, who was trembling with cold and fear. "Get out of here." I whispered sternly.

"H-How?" he asked, almost crying, "T-there's no way around h-him."

"Maybe not." I tried to sound calm and friendly as I whispered the next part. "But it can't break both of our seals at the same time, right?"

Jack's eyes immediately lit up with surprise and denial. "N-no…" he shook his head desperately, "You… you c-can't! Please…" he started to sob softly and trace X's on the floor, "P-please… don't d-do it."

The fact that the eagerly smiling Shadow was a few feet in front of us made it clear that both of us wouldn't leave that room. "If you hurry up, I'm sure you can get help on time!" I lied, knowing that everyone was still in the security office at the other side of the building.

"N-no." Jack's voice began to swell up with sadness; he was now tracing the X's on the tiled floor with enough force to crack it. "I w-won't leave you!"

When the Shadow was right in front of us, I roughly grabbed his hand that was hectically doing the X's. "You promised me," I reminded, "that you would do _everything_ you had to do to keep yourself save, didn't you?" He nodded, and I did my best to sound calm. "Then, please go."

"N-no…" he held on to my arm as I stood up in front of the towering Shadow, "don't d-do this!"

"Hey, shadow me!" I greeted friendlily as Jack's hand slipped off, "I'm _dying _to play with you and your friend! Why don't you start with me?"

I once heard somewhere that if a trapped animal _thinks _he's going to die, he goes wild and crazy, trying desperately to save himself. But if he _knows_ that he's lost, he suddenly becomes extremely calm, like he's at peace.

I was the trapped animal, and I was calm.

The Shadow's grin grew wide, _too _wide; its impossibly white smile literally stretched from ear to ear as it chuckled darkly. "Gl-gl-glad to hear tha-a-at!" I heard Jack crying behind me as the figure's smoky black fingers grew into sharp claws, "At f-first, it m-may feel VEEEERY WEIRD!" Walking backwards, I lured the Shadow a few feet away from where Jack was sitting before it pulled back its clawed hand, "B-but DON'T worry ab-about aaaanything!" Jack and I screamed at the same time in horror and pain as the freezing black hand lunged itself into my chest. "Soon-n, VERY soon, y-you'll ge-e-et USED to it! Then… YOU'LL LOVE IT!" Roaring with pain, I let myself fall on my back while those burning cold claws scraped against my inside. "You c-can help us then!" The overjoyed Shadow was now on top of me, its hand still trying to find the blood seal in my chest. "The th-three of us will g-go get the rest-est of your f-friends. Th-then, we'll ALL b-be together-er! It's gon-gon-gonna be AWESOME!"

Without any strength left in me I let my head roll sideways. Through a sight blurred by pain I saw that Jack was still in his corner, looking at me with pitiful eyes. "Leave him…" his soft whimper sounded faint and distant, even though he was close to us, "P-please, leave h-him."

"G… go." I managed to cough out, "Go away Jack, plea-AARGH!"

"FOUND IT!" announced the Shadow triumphantly, "We're almo-most done bud-d-dy, just relaaaaax…"

"Leave him!" called out Jack angrily, standing up quickly. "L-leave him alone, n-now!" I barely managed to see him clenching his fists at the shadowy monster before everything went black.

"So, that's it." I thought calmly, remembering my last year and few months of 'life'. Through it all, I only had one major regret. "I'm sorry Sean, I should have told you." Through the darkness that surrounded me, I saw Mom's smiling face for a few seconds before it melted away. "One day you'll find out, I'm… sure." Just thinking was getting harder, and I knew that my time was up. "And I hope… that maybe… you'll forgive… me…"

Feeling like my mind was about to break, I let go of everything.

"I… s-said... LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Suddenly, the darkness was torn away. Once again I was laying on my back inside that dingy secret room. I looked up, baffled by what I saw.

Shrieking agonizingly, the Shadow had pulled its hand out of my chest and was stumbling backwards as its dark silhouette seemed to be thinning out. "Wh-what is-s hap-pen-pening?!" it yelled out in panic, holding a fading hand in front of its terrified face.

"Go. Away." I barely recognized that cold and decided voice as Jack's. I turned around to see his blazing and furious white eyes, his stretched arm and opened hand that were pointed at the flickering Shadow, and a bright red glow that was coming out of his chest.

"The third special blood seal." I whispered, "Jack can do things to souls."

The Shadow gasped and screamed hopelessly as little by little its whole body faded away. "STOP!" it begged, "St-stop, please! It… it… HURTS!"

"No." Jack's arm began to tremble slightly as the Shadow slumped down against a wall. "You're n-never coming b-back."

By now, nothing was left of the Shadow but a pair of weakly glowing eyes. For a moment, the floating lights seemed to beam at us peacefully, like a baby that slowly closes his eyes before he falls asleep.

Then, they vanished.

* * *

After a minute or two the last of that freezing pain finally disappeared. I rolled on my chest and tried to push myself up, only to realize how weak I was when my arm gave out and my torso fell to the ground again. "Well, _ouch._"

"Are… are y-you okay?" panted Jack as he slowly and tiredly walked to me. His eyes had once again dimmed down to little pinpoints and there wasn't any light coming from his chest.

"Better than I thought I'd be by now." I huffed. "That was _scary_." Jack gave out a tired little laugh before he too fell on the floor next to me. "Hey, you alright buddy?!" I asked anxiously.

He shook his head to wake himself up before nodding. "J-just a bit t-tired." he mumbled.

"How did you do that?"

Jack shrugged and sat back up. "I'm… I'm n-not sure." he whispered, "I j-just wanted him to g-go away, t-to leave you." He paused for a while. I knew that he wasn't good speaking for a long time. "Th-then, I felt something warm inside of m-me, and I f-felt like there w-was… s-something b-between it and me." Taking another pause, he pointed at the place where the Shadow had been a minute ago. "Wh-when I f-felt that, I k-knew that I could m-make him go away. I j-just did what I d-did, and it f-felt… natural."

"I understand." I didn't understand, I still don't. But then again, many things that should be impossible had happened so far. "How do you feel now?"

Jack sighed. "D-different. Not better… or b-bad. Just, different." He looked at me in the eyes for a long time, like there was something on me that I couldn't see.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You're a g-good person." he chuckled softly.

"Wait, you can _see_ that now?"

Jack nodded. "There's l-like a thin, warm l-light around you." he explained, before his voice became slightly serious. "B-but, there's s-something around you, something d-dark, that's t-trying to get into you."

"I think we both met him already." I muttered, remembering last night's 'game'. It was then that we heard some distant footsteps coming our way.

"Don?! Jack?!" called out my brother worriedly, "Guys, where are you?!"

"Over here!" I replied, "In the secret room!"

The footsteps became quicker and louder, and soon Sean was stepping into the gloomy room. "Well?" he crossed his arms at us, "What happened here? You two had us worried sick!"

Jack stared at my brother for a while before smiling. "You're a g-good person t-too." he announced.

"Umm, thanks?" Sean turned his confused eyes at me.

"It's a long story with many questions." I dismissed as I slowly stood up. "But I'm sure Marionette has some answers. Is he with you?"

My brother nodded. "Yes, he came into the security office right after you left."

"Did he say where he was last night?" I asked. Sean shook his head.

We left the room after that and quickly shoved the kitchen shelf back in its place. As we stepped into the Game Area, I remembered the feeling of regret I had a few minutes ago. "Umm, brother…" I started as we began walking towards the security office.

"Yes?" The little courage that I managed to muster disappeared when Sean looked expectantly at me.

"You know what? I… I'll tell you later."

* * *

"…and then he said that Sean and you were good people, right Pizza Boy?" finished Marionette as he leaned against his box.

"That's what happened." I answered truthfully, looking how Jack idly traced some circles next to the door of Prize Corner. We had asked the Toys to wait outside for a while. After all, they didn't even know that they were dead kids, so there was no way they could understand what the blood seals meant.

"I really wasn't expecting _him _out of all of you to have the soul seal." said the puppet, "But I guess that explains why he can't be dominated as easily by his evil side as you; having that special seal inside of him must give him some resistance. Maybe Walther thought that out of all of you, he'd be the least capable of actually using it."

"Then we'll just have to proof him wrong, right Jack?" called out Sarah energetically. Without looking at her, Jack gave her a shy little nod before he silently kept on tracing his circles on the floor.

Then, Marionette stood up and walked towards him. "Hey little guy," he greeted softly as he lowered his mask in front of him, "can you tell me what happened and what you felt?"

Jack looked up at the porcelain-white face of the puppet for a few seconds before he quickly crawled away from it, apparently afraid. He shook his head erratically at Marionette.

"Don't take it personally Pups," said Sarah, "he doesn't have a lot of trust in anyone besides Brandon." That was true, but I still found it weird to see him suddenly so afraid of someone that he had known for months.

"No problem." sighed Marionette as he straightened up, "I didn't mean to scare you buddy, sorry." As the slender figure turned around and walked back to his box, Jack followed him with untrusting eyes.

"What more can he do then?" asked Ferny eagerly.

Marionette shrugged. "To be honest, I have no idea. There's only so much Walther and me can do, so I guess he's not exactly Superman now. We'll just have to wait and see, maybe he'll surprise us."

"Do you think he might be able to free us?" I asked, not really hoping for a 'yes' as an answer. Back then, I still wasn't a hundred percent sure that I was ready to leave this world behind.

But that was years ago.

"Maybe." answered Marionette, "Or he could end up erasing all of you by accident. It's a huge risk."

"He can do it." I replied with confidence, "He managed to save me on his own, so I'm sure he'll be able to do big things."

"Calm down private." said my brother slowly, "I agree with you, but we have to think this through. What if something _does _go wrong? Maybe the only way to leave these bodies is to break Walther's seal inside that book. And we still haven't found the tapes; we can't leave without saying goodbye."

"Yeah, but the longer we stay in here, the more people might get hurt." countered Fer. "How long do we have before we kill again?"

A thoughtful silence filled the small room for a few seconds before we heard some rushed banging at Prize Corner's door. "Umm, friends?" said Junior nervously, "We're about to open."

We had completely forgotten that the pizzeria opened at 8 AM. Without as much as a 'bye', Marionette quickly crept back into his box while the five of us rushed out of the room. The three main Toys hastily climbed up the Show Stage as Mangle swung herself towards Kids Cove and Balloons took his place next to the carousel. We were about to go to the Main Hall, but the sound of a car engine going still in the parking lot made us stop in our tracks. Whoever opened that door would catch five supposedly scrapped animatronics running down the building.

"Err… let's take the vents!" suggested Ferny. We followed him to the vent that led to the security office, let him pull the panel away and crawled inside. Being the last one to enter after Jack, I put the panel back in its place right as the door of the Game Area swung open.

"Hurry up Sean!" hissed Sarah.

"Hey, you don't have a broken knee to worry about!" shot back my brother.

"No… but I don't have my _two hands _and I'm still faster than you!"

We scrambled out of the vent and into the office just in time to see how the lights of the Main Hall turned on at the other end of the corridor of the Party Rooms. This time, Sarah threw herself into the vent before Sean could protest. After a few seconds, the strangest caravan I never thought I'd take part in kept crawling as fast as possible to the service room.

A couple of minutes later, Sarah bashed opened the panel of Parts &amp; Service with her elbow, and one by one we scrambled out of the vent. The doorknob of the grey door rattled as we sat down in our usual places, panting slightly. Right as I took my spot besides the door, it swung open, and once again two familiar figures inspected us keenly.

"See, I told you the kid was seeing things!" laughed Eric, shoving Dave's shoulder teasingly, "I was wondering what he was hiding inside that little backpack!"

The head guard's expression remained serious. "Something's not right." he told the manager, "He seemed so sure of what he saw."

"Oh, off course! Because _our _animatronics are a bunch of evil murderous robots!" Still chuckling softly, Erik shook his head. "Luckily for us he didn't have a week in the job, so he's not getting any paycheck from me. But we need another night guard as soon as possible."

"What about the guy that sold the tickets at the counter in the old place?" suggested Dave. "Do you still have his number?"

Erik nodded as he grabbed the big, blocky white… thing that was clipped unto his belt. "Yup. I needed an excuse to test this baby anyways." I discreetly raised my head to see how he pressed some buttons on the gadget before pulling it close to his ear, like a telephone. He waited for about a minute, and I could see that he had trouble holding the device with one hand.

"Kids nowadays don't pick up their phones!" he muttered with annoyance as he lowered the thing from his ear.

"Maybe he's at his parent's house." said the man in purple calmly, "Let me give them a call, I know the number."

The manager reluctantly handed the brick-like device to his employee. Dave looked at the thing for a moment with a confused expression before pressing the same buttons and raising the strange piece of technology to his ear.

"Hello, hello? Uhh... is this Mr. Fitzgerald?" A chill went down my spine at the sound of the familiar name. "Hi, this is Dave Hobbs, the head of security of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and…" The guard closed his eyes painfully as a voice shouted at him from the other end of the line. "Uhh, I know your son was close to the kids, especially the two brothers. We're… we're really sorry. We are." Erik rolled his eyes impatiently as the voice said something. "I know he quit after that, but I'd still like to talk to Jeremy. A position just became… uhh… available."


	23. The new guard

**A/N: **Yes, I know. I said last time that I'd upload this two days ago and I didn't. I'm really sorry guys, but I simply did not have the time to finish before Sunday and I don't want to rush a chapter too much. Besides, this one did_ not _want to be written. It's funny how easy it is to write some chapters, and how difficult others are. Remember that if I don't manage to update on Sunday there should be a notice on my profile explaining why this is and when I'll update. If that's not the case, it means that I don't have Internet access. Once again, my apologies and thanks for waiting.

Now, we _finally_ enter the actual games, and someone makes a comeback. That's right, welcome to Freddy's Jeremy! A big thank you to those who have commented so far, and I invite you to let me know what you thought of this chap. See you at the bottom guys, and happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 23: The new guard**

It had been five days since we heard Dave happily tell Jeremy over the brick-like device that he was welcome to take the night shift. It seemed as if no one actually believed he'd be willing to go back to Freddy's after everything that happened.

"He can't come, right?" asked my brother anxiously while we waited in the Parts and Service room for the last employees to leave. "He _won't _come; he knows that nothing good can come out of this."

"You heard it yourself Sean," muttered Ferny, looking down at the floor, "he'll take the shift tonight."

Jack looked up from the puzzle that he was finishing to stare at me with confusion. "Who are t-they talking about?" he asked.

"Jeremy and his family were always really close to ours." I explained, shoving myself closer to him. "When we were… normal, we went a lot to the old place, and he always gave us discounts without the manager's permission. Sean and I would play for the whole day then, and sometimes we brought along Fer and Sarah. Jeremy also gave them some free meals and stuff." The sweet memories suddenly turned bitter when I remembered that all my immediate family, including myself, were dead.

Jack slowly laid down the puzzle by his side, sighing deeply. "M-Mike loved that p-place as well. He was n-never a big fan of t-the band, or the f-food, but he was addicted to the a-arcades." Jack let out a short giggle. "I d-didn't really like anything a-about that place, but Mike w-wouldn't leave me alone at home. H-he always brought m-me along, so he c-could make sure I was s-safe." A small silence followed before he resumed speaking. "That d-day, I wasn't f-feeling really happy, s-so I didn't go to the arcades with him. That's when you s-saw me."

"I'm so sorry Jack." I mumbled as my ears drooped down, "I never should've…"

"It wasn't your f-fault." he interrupted, "You d-didn't know what would h-happen. Wh… what happened last week wasn't your f-fault either." He turned his head around and looked at me with his warmly glowing eyes. "You're a g-good person, don't forget that."

I would've smiled if I could. "Thanks buddy, but please be careful tonight." Jack nodded understandingly. "If something would happen to you or Jeremy because of me…"

"Don!" My ears quickly rose up at the sound of my brother's voice. He was staring at me expectantly. "What do you think about it?"

I stood up and walked towards the brown, red and yellow trio. "I'm sorry, I wasn't really listening." I mumbled awkwardly, scratching the back of my head.

"Really Brandon?" huffed Sarah as she crossed her arms, "Are those big ears of yours any good?"

"Sarah, don't be mean." nagged Ferny before bursting out in laughs, "Never mind, that was good! Anyways," He cleared his throat to cut off his laughing, "since Jeremy or any other person that doesn't have a blood seal can't hear us talk, and there aren't any blank tapes in the security office, we thought that we should leave him a note."

"Okay, that's not a bad idea. But what do we tell him?" I asked.

"To get out of here." replied Sean, "He won't believe that we're still around if he doesn't hear our voices, and to be fair, who would? It's a shame that we can't ask him for help, but at least he'll be safe."

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

As usual, the sound of the main doors closing one last time let us know that the day was over. As usual, the five of us left the service room to check on the Toys and Marionette. As usual, we found Junior, Mini and TB climbing off the Show Stage. What wasn't usual was the sadness that beamed from their eyes.

"Hey little me, how was your day?" I greeted friendlily as I approached my counterpart.

"Oh, umm, hi Mr. Bonnie." replied TB absent-mindedly, looking up at me with gloomy eyes as Junior and Mini went to Sean and Sarah. "Alright, I guess."

"Glad to hear that." I knelt down in front of him, took out his rose from my chest and held his favorite item in front of him in an attempt to cheer him up. "I hope you didn't forget that it's your turn today!"

TB grabbed the plastic stem, looked down at the crumbled petals with melancholy and began to rub his elbow awkwardly. "Umm, thanks." His whisper was so weak I could barely hear it.

I gently lifted his chin with my hand, and stared down into his light eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked, this time letting my growing concern show through my voice.

TB shook his head as his ears slowly went down. "It's gonna happen again, isn't it?" he mumbled as his small shoulders began to quiver, "We… we're going to try to kill the guard again, right?" He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his small fists as he began to sob softly. "I… I don't want to hurt anyone Mr. Bonnie! I j-just… want to go back t-to how we were. To p-play games and n-not have to worry about any of this!"

I sighed. "Me too, you don't know how much. But we're going to leave a note to the guard, so he'll know he has to go and no one will get hurt!"

This time TB shook his head with more force. "What if he doesn't read it?! What will happen then?!" I was surprised to see him throw down the flower furiously. He then let his heavy body fall on the floor. "I thought I'd b-be happy here after we opened, but n-now I just… I just want to leave."

"Leave where?" I demanded immediately, fearing what he might say.

"To the outside world, to all the places you told me about the night we became friends. I want to know what the rain feels like, or the sun… I just want to step outside for once." He paused for a moment, and looked up at me with that puppy-like, pleading expression that only little kids have. "Would… would you go with me then?"

I picked up the rose from the floor and handled it over to him. "Off course I will!" I replied with a laugh, "How could I leave my friend alone?"

"I want to go with you then!" called out Mini behind us, "I think we deserve a little rest."

"I agree with Small Bird." said Junior, "I want to know what this 'outside' is."

Sarah chuckled and shook her head. "Seems like everybody got really outdoorsy all of the sudden."

The sound of a car engine stopping right outside immediately killed the conversation. The three Toys quickly climbed up the stage whilst Sarah and Ferny crawled into the nearest vent. My brother and I followed suit, rapidly squeezing ourselves into another metal duct, right on time to see how the lights turned on and unveiled two human silhouettes: Erik, who was holding a purple package under his armpit and…

"Jeremy?!" Sean and I gasped at the same time. There he was, standing next to the manager, looking at least ten years older than the last time we saw him. The dark rings around his eyes accentuated his tired smile as he looked at the Toys, hands on his waist.

"What do you think?" asked Erik with a proud grin on his face, looking at our newer versions.

Jeremy's smile fell down ever so slightly, before he let out a long sigh. "I don't know." he confessed, "They're so… different. Well," he looked around the Game Area, "everything is so different here."

"Yeah…" The manager dropped the package on the floor before fishing out a small case of cigarettes from his shirt's pocket and popping one in his mouth. "We're glad to have you back Fitzgerald. Do you smoke now?" He held out the case to Jeremy.

"No I don't, thanks." he replied calmly, but it was clear that his polite smile was a bit forced; though not as much as the manager's. I still wonder if the latter ever found out about those 'unofficial discounts'.

"Honestly, you look like you need one." Erik chuckled gravely as he took out a lighter and held the cigarette's tip into the orange flame. "Anyways, let's get to the point." The manager took a long drag and puffed out a cloud of smoke close enough from cousin's face to bother him, yet far enough to appear unintentional. "Watch the cams from twelve to six, don't leave the office unless it's necessary, and if someone breaks in call 911."

"Got it."

"Umm… there's one more thing." Erik's tone suddenly became awkward and unsure. "The last guy that worked here said that he had… small issues with the animatronics. Eh, they _might _try to get into your office as soon as your shift starts." Jeremy looked at the manager with confusion. "But off course you wouldn't be in any danger!" reassured Erik, "The last guard found out that if you put on a Freddy headpiece when they see you they'll leave you alone, except Foxy apparently." Again, our cousin gave a puzzled glare at his superior. "Dave and I think it's a small glitch in their programming; and speaking of Dave he left some messages to help you get more used to the job. They'll explain everything in more detail."

"Sounds like him." replied Jeremy with a smile.

"Yeah, he also did that for the kid that worked here before we had the… umm… second accident and had to close down for the investigation. His tapes and yours might be mixed together, so keep that in mind. Oh, and here's your uniform. The keys should be in there as well." Erik quickly picked up the package that was lying on the floor and passed it to Jeremy.

"Alright then." said the latter as he took the purple pack, "Thanks again for waiting for me Erik."

The other man took another drag of his cigarette. "No problem Fitzgerald." he dismissed, exhaling smoke, "Thanks for taking the job. But why did you come back after losing your second cousins here?"

Jeremy's expression suddenly became harsh and serious, a long shot from the cheeriness and friendliness that always beamed from him when we were together. "Just cousins, and those are personal reasons." he answered curtly, "I think I should get going now, try to catch some sleep before my shift." Without saying another word he stomped out of the building. Moments later, we heard the sputtering of an old engine that comes to life, before it rapidly faded away in the distance. Sighing, Erik turned off the lights. I followed the orange glow of his cigarette through the darkness of the room as he left the pizzeria, and then listened to the sound of his own car speeding away into the night.

* * *

Marionette sighed and leaned on his box. "The new night guard is Pizza Boy's and Sean's second cousin?" Huffing, he shook his head. "The world is such a small place."

"Are you almost done Brandon?" asked Ferny anxiously, "We don't have a lot of time left."

"Yup." I replied as I slowly drew one last character with a red crayon on a blank coloring page, "I'm sure Jeremy will get out of here as soon as he sees this." Putting the crayon aside, I looked down at my ugly, shaky, but legible capital letters scraped on the paper:

_LEAVE NOW. YOU'RE IN DANGER._

Though my new handwriting would've given my English teacher a heart attack, I chuckled with satisfaction as I put the paper inside my chest. After all, these hands were never meant for anything other than holding that fake guitar.

"Well done private." cheered Sean, "Now, let's leave this in his office."

We left the room and were greeted by all five Toys, who were resting on the floor next to Jack. Strangely, after our encounter with the Shadow, he seemed to distrust Marionette completely and refused to be in the same room as him.

"Hey buddy." I greeted in a flat tone as I sat down next to him, "It's almost time I'm afraid."

Jack sighed and let his head fall down slightly. "That r-room… it's so d-dark." he mumbled sadly, "Please, c-can't I be somewhere else?"

"I'm sorry, but that's the only room that I, well, _he _doesn't know." was my answer, "He'd find you if you hide anywhere else." As I said that, the growling of a car engine quickly made us turn our heads towards the sound's source. "You have to go now buddy." I urged. With sadness in his eyes Jack stood up and stepped into the kitchen as the Toys quickly ran to their respective places.

Once again we took a shortcut through a vent to reach the security office in time. As we stepped into the monitor-filled room we heard the main doors open, followed by the sound of rapidly-approaching footsteps. I hastily opened my chest, laid the paper on the desk and crawled into the left vent after everyone else.

Jeremy, now dressed from head to toe in his purple uniform, walked around the office for a moment before noticing our letter on the desk. He approached it slowly, picked it up and, puzzled, stared at the ugly red letters for a long time.

"Did he see it?" hissed Sarah behind me.

"He's reading it." I answered, "He looks more confused than afraid."

"C'mon Jerry," pleaded my brother, "just get out of here, please!"

A deep frown appeared on Jeremy's forehead, again making him look much older than he was. Then, to our horror, he angrily crumbled the note into a ball and slammed it on his desk.

"Whoever left that thing, listen to me!" he roared out into the hallway, "I'm not a coward! I came here to do something, and I'm _not _leaving until that's done!" As if to make this extra clear, he let himself fall on the office's chair heavily. "So, if you're still here, _you _are the one that should leave at once!"

A silence of surprise took over us for a few seconds. Not as much because of his answer, but because of the way he answered; it seemed as if something was truly destroying our cousin from the inside.

"We… we should go to Parts and Service, fast." whispered Ferny a few seconds later in a tone of defeat, "It's the farthest we can get from him without being seen."

"I guess you're right." sighed Sean, "Let's get going."

We crawled on as silently and quickly as we could through the vent, none of us saying a word. Why was Jeremy here? What was he going to do? Before I could think of an answer, we were back in the service room.

"So, what now?" asked Sarah hastily, "How much time do we have?"

"I don't know what we can do." confessed Fer, before looking at a tiny digital clock below the camera. "And… we're out of time."

I turned around and checked the clock just in time to see the glowing 11:59 turn into 12:00. Then, before I could say anything, a burning pain shot though my body. I growled as I felt my knees give out and saw an eerie red hue lit up the dark room.

"Brandon!" Ferny and Sarah screamed at the same time as I doubled over on the floor.

"N-no…" I whimpered in panic, "Don't m-make me do this, please! He's… HE'S MY FAMILY!"

"Don, please stay with us!" begged Sean, kneeling by my side. "You've always held out longer than any of us, you can fight it!"

"I… I c-can't." I clenched my fist and looked at the pained eyes of my brother. "I'm… sorry…"

The world came and went in flashes as I began to trash violently on the floor, trying desperately to hold on to myself whilst cold and darkness flooded my whole being… but then I came to my senses and stopped twitching.

I was alright now. Everything was alright now.

"Don?" I heard a familiar voice ask slowly and nervously, "P-private? Can you hear me?"

"Hello Freddy." I greeted cheerily, standing up I front of the shocked bear, "That's not my name, but I can hear you loud and clear."

Foxy and Chica stared at me with a combination of fear and worry, whilst Freddy looked angrily at me. "You damn bastard…" hissed the latter, balling his big brown fists at me, "Give me back my little brother!"

I chuckled. "Poor Freddy, is that kid confusing you? You _don't have_ a brother."

The huge brown figure growled at me. "You. Take. That. Back."

"But it's true!" I shrugged calmly, "Anyways, don't worry about it." I pointed at his chest as it began to glow softly in a bloody red, "Everything will be clear to you very soon."

The bear let out a short cry as he fell sideways, clutching at his glowing side. Foxy and Chica ran to him, but in a second they too fell down, hopelessly trying to fight their true nature. Their eyes flickered, their bodies twitched and shook, and after a few moments, they were laying motionlessly on the tiled floor.

"Welcome back friends!" I called out happily, "How do you feel?"

The three figures stood up at the same time and lifted their heads to look back at me with their frigid, empty glowing eyes.

"Much better." whispered Foxy before grinning perversely at me, "We're ready to play Bonnie."

"Glad to hear that." I replied with satisfaction, "We have a brand new prize waiting for us in the office. Say, how about we give him a big, warm welcome?"

* * *

**A/N: **Good luck Jeremy, you'll need it...

Thanks for reading, and as always if you spotted an error please let me know. One last thing: I'm working on a little surprise for you guys, and I'm quite excited about it. What is it? Well, you'll find out this Sunday. Don't worry, I'll make sure to be on time!


	24. Illusions

**Long and important A/N:** Well, what can I say? Once again, I couldn't finish the next chapter when I told you I would. Guys, believe me, if you feel bad when you don't see me update on time, I feel _much _worse. I've begun to realize that since I'm living alone, started college and have many more responsibilities I simply can't keep up the rhythm I had. So, I wanted to share a few things with you

After a lot of thinking, I've decided to get rid of the fixed times that I've been keeping so far. Why? Well, instead of making a promise to you and breaking it (again), I decided to stop making promises. You see, the Sunday deadline kept me writing constantly back when I could still afford to do that, but now I simply can't. Since I started college I have to rush my writing and my planning to try to finish the next chap on time, and I still can't always do that. Honestly, these last few chapters felt more like homework than leisure, and that's not the idea. When I was writing Ch. 23 under the pressure of time, I was stuck. But once I missed that Sunday it actually felt liberating to not have a deadline, the words flowed _much _better, and I enjoyed it more. Writing is fun. Writing under pressure... not so much.

I know that some of you are guest users who don't get mail notifications when I update, so I decided that I'll still update on weekends only, but not on _every _weekend. That way, you'll at least have an idea of when you can check to see if a new chapter is up.

**TL;DR:** To improve the story's quality, regain the enjoyment of writing and not let you down by making false promises I decided to get rid of fixed update times. From now on, I'll update either on Friday, Saturday or Sunday when and if I can. If a weekend passes and there is no new chapter, please be patient and wait till the next one. I'm not dropping this, going on hiatus or losing interest: I'll just stop chaining myself to deadlines I can no longer keep and instead focus on doing it right. Thanks for understanding :)

But there is another, far more exciting news that I wanted to share with you, and I'll do it after this chapter. Until then, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 24: Illusions**

I woke up lying face down on the floor, feeling like I had just run a marathon. As my eyes adjusted to the available light, I realized that I was in Party Room 1. For one second nothing made sense. Then, I remembered.

The Toys left their spots first while we waited in Parts and Service for them to bring us Jeremy; they seemed pretty giddy to be the ones to catch the new night guard. After an hour or two we left the service room and slowly circled around the office, using the cover of darkness to hide ourselves from the cameras while we looked at the action from a distance. The Toys were regularly going into Jeremy's office, but he always managed to spot them and put on his mask right on time.

The night was ending, and we were starting to get impatient. I was the first one to try and catch him off guard by sneaking through the left vent of his office. Jeremy was frantically watching the monitors with his tired and scared eyes, so much in fact that he didn't notice me crawling out of the vent and into the office. Laughing darkly to myself, I stood up and sneaked towards him until I was a few feet away, but then he turned around and quickly put his head inside the mask. He watched me with horrified eyes as I walked around him for a few seconds, before turning around and going back into the darkness of the Party Room corridor.

Chica tried her luck, but ended up having the outcome as me. When there were a few minutes left, I snuck inside Party Room 1, hoping to crawl into the vents and get into his office again. I was about to do just that, when the sound of a beeping alarm came to my ears. Right before everything went black, I cursed myself for being so easy on the guard.

Then, there was nothing.

"But we won't hesitate next time." I whispered involuntarily, "I won't stop hunting him until his warm blood stains my hands. It's gonna be… fantastic." A rush of excitement coursed through my body before I realized with horror what I just said.

"NO!" I shook my head erratically, hoping to clear my mind from that bloody desire. "What's wrong with you Brandon," I muttered, "you're not like this." My weak voice trembled with regret and disgust as I repeated desperately "I'm not a killer. I'm not a killer. I'm not a killer. I'm not…"

"Don?" Sean was standing at the door, looking down at me with compassion and pain in his eyes. "Please, don't talk like that." he whispered softly, kneeling by my side. "He's alright, remember? We didn't do anything to him, it's okay."

"It's not okay!" I blurted out, "_I'm _not okay brother!" Panting, I let my head fall down. "I told TB that the only monster is the one that forces us to kill, but now… now I'm not so sure."

"Don't talk like that private." I felt a hand lay itself down on my armless shoulder. "You shouldn't feel guilty about something that's not your fault."

"But still. I tried to kill our cousin!"

"And you failed." I raised my head to see my brother smiling smugly at me. "See? You'd make a terrible killer!"

I chuckled at his words. "Just like you."

With a smile on his face, Sean stretched his arm out to me. "C'mon, everyone is waiting for us."

"Brother, do you think Jeremy will return after what happened?" I asked as we walked out of the room.

"Don't worry about that Don." answered Sean, "He must be crazy if he's coming back tonight."

* * *

Stepping into the Game Area, I was greeted by the sight of all five Toys sleeping peacefully on the floor. Sarah and Ferny themselves were yawning next to the Show Stage, whilst Jack sat in a corner, tracing circles on the floor.

"Hey Brandon!" greeted Sarah as she and Fer stood up and walked to me, before she stopped in front of me and looked at me in the eyes. "Are you okay? You seem a bit… down."

"I wasn't feeling very happy when I woke up, but I'm alright now. Don't worry." I dismissed casually. The sound of Junior turning around in his sleep made me turn my head towards the knocked-out Toys. "Are _they _alright?"

"Yeah, they're just really tired." answered Ferny, "Between the shows and what happened this morning, they've been awake since we opened up yesterday morning." He turned around and looked at our counterparts. "They're just little kids after all."

Something about the way he said the last sentence saddened me. They looked so peaceful there, on top of the tiled floor, twisting and turning slightly with their eyes shut. How could children so sweet become blood-thirsty killers at night? I shook my head in disbelieve; they didn't deserve any of this, perhaps even less so than us. They should be outside, playing tag, rolling down hills and getting their parents' comfort when they inevitably got themselves bruised.

Outside…

"Brandon?" Ferny's voice brought me back to reality. "What are you thinking about?"

"Umm, nothing." was my reply, "Just a random thought. By the way," I looked at the golden figure who was still silently and idly tracing his circles, "thanks for taking Jack out of the hidden room.

My friend looked at me with puzzled yellow eyes. "Umm, we didn't do anything."

Jumping to a conclusion, I walked over to Jack and sat beside him. "Hey buddy," I greeted, "you're alright?" He looked up at me and nodded quickly. "Great. Nothing happened to Jeremy, thankfully." I cleared my throat and lowered my tone. "Umm, I know you don't like that room. But please be careful when you push that shelf alone, it's very heavy."

Jack stopped doing the circles and raised his head; there was confusion in his eyes. "I… I d-don't remember p-pushing it after I entered." he mumbled, "I j-just wanted to leave the room, a-and I was outside."

"So you just appeared outside without touching the shelf?" I questioned sarcastically, walking into the kitchen. Jack stood up and followed me. "C'mon, you know as well as me that what you just told me is imposs-"

The kitchen shelf was perfectly in place. I shook my head to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but there was no question about it; the heavy piece of furniture hadn't been moved.

"Well..." I mumbled, scratching the back of my head, "Maybe you just fell asleep outside of the room."

Jack shook his head energetically. "I r-remember going in there l-last night."

"Guys?" I called out once I had run out of possible-sounding ideas, "Could you come here for a while?"

My brother, Sarah and Ferny stepped into the kitchen. All three seemed as puzzled as me when I retold them Jack's story. We easily managed to push the heavy wooden shelf between the four of us, only to freeze in shock by when we saw what was in there.

Slumped down lifelessly against a close wall, without any light in his eyes, was the golden mechanical bear suit that had been Jack's body for nearly a year and four months. We turned our heads simultaneously to look at the exact copy standing beside us, watching us with confused pinpoint eyes.

"Umm..." we chorused dumbly, our four heads turning left and right to look at the two clones like we were watching a tennis match.

"How?" started Fer.

"But… but…" stuttered Sarah.

"What?" whispered Sean.

"No way." I gasped. "Uh, Jack, you should see this."

The golden figure walked to us, then leaped up from pure surprise at the sight of himself sitting inertly on the floor.

"Alright, let's calm down." suggested Ferny with a shaky voice, tapping his foot nervously, "I'm sure that there is a perfectly logical explanation!"

"Professor," huffed back Sarah, "we were killed by a maniac dressed in purple and now we're seven foot tall robotic animals. Sometimes there just_ isn't _a logical explanation."

"An illogical explanation is good enough for me." confessed my brother.

"Well, that's interesting." said a familiar juvenile voice behind us. We turned around to see Marionette leaning against a wall with his thin and long arms crossed smartly. "I mean, I knew that the third special blood seal was something else, but this is _a bit _freaky."

Jack -the one that was standing next to us- glared at and walked away slowly from the slender dark figure as it approached the opened secret room. "You see," resumed the puppet, "your friend here managed to somehow separate his soul from his body and basically teleport outside of the hidden room."

Sarah looked at my brother with amusement. "There is your illogical explanation." she whispered.

"I don't understand." I interrupted, "He didn't do it on purpose." Jack looked at me, and nodded shyly and silently in agreement.

"Here's the thing," replied Marionette, "it's really hard to learn how to use those… let's call them perks. But if he can do something like _this_, well, who knows what else he can do."

"How do you feel Jack?" asked a thrilled Sarah, "Excited for what you can do?"

His reply was a mumbled "N-no." and an X on the floor. It was then that the golden image in front of us started to flicker ever so slightly, like Shadow Bonnie in the two times I'd seen it.

"That's not good." warned Marionette, "A soul can't stay out of a body for too long without something or someone to protect it."

"What do we do then?" I asked nervously, seeing how Jack seemed to be visibly thinning out in front of us.

"I… I don't know!" replied the puppet hastily, "I don't have the soul seal, how am I supposed to know?"

"Uh…" hummed Jack nervously, seeing how his chest started to glow in a soft red, "I f-feel a bit weir-"

And just like that, he disappeared. Baffled, we stared at the spot where he had been a moment ago; there had been no dramatic flash of light or cliché flickering of lamps. One second he was there, the next he was gone.

I managed to compose myself from what I had just seen, and called out in a panicked voice "Jack?! Buddy, can you hear me?!"

No answer. Sarah and Sean repeated Jack's name, before we heard the sound of moving metal coming from the dark secret room. I turned around to see the previously lifeless mechanical suit twitch slightly for one second before its black eyes filled with a familiar, human light.

Back in his golden prison and shelter, Jack shook his head tiredly as he looked in bewilderment at his huge hands. "Wh… what happened?" he moaned weakly.

I was the first one to rush into the room, followed closely by Sean. "Are you alright buddy?" I asked, stretching out my arm to help him get up.

"J-just tired." he replied sleepily as I pulled him on his feet. My brother grabbed his other arm and slowly helped him walk out of the dark room. Jack let himself slide down against a wall before Sarah and Fer helped us put the shelf back in place.

After that was done, Ferny hummed thoughtfully, putting his hook under his chin. "Apparently he can't stay out of that body for too long." he stated, right before we heard some footsteps approach the kitchen.

Yawning, TB stretched himself to wake up as he peered into the kitchen. "Uh, hello." he greeted sleepily before staring at us with curiosity. It was obvious that he noticed that something unusual was going on. "Did anything weird happen?"

"No." we chorused immediately, like a group of rowdy kids when a grown-up asks if they've been up to trouble.

"Alright…" The light-blue figure once again stretched his arms up as he yawned deeply, and then walked up to me in a cheery, fast way. "Hey Mr. Bonnie," he beamed, "the guard is alright, isn't he?"

"Yeah, don't worry about anything." I replied casually before ruffling his ears, making his smile widen. "We still have an hour left. Say, how does a little game of Pac-Man sound?"

My counterpart nodded eagerly. "But before that," he opened his chest and handled me over the rose, "It's your turn today."

* * *

The day went by fast, and soon it was night time again. We rested and played with the Toys after closing time, like nothing had happened or would happen. Just like we did before the place opened we ran behind each other, watched TV, drew and played arcades. Not for one second did I dare to think that Jeremy would come back; after all, why would he? He wasn't poor at all; his parents had always been much better off than ours. He told us more than once that as much as he loved the pizzeria and seeing us there, it wasn't his life call.

It was an afternoon, and looking back now it feels like it happened a million years ago. "Sean, Brandon, I want to travel the world one day." he told us in confidence as Freddy's was closing for the day. "Someday, when I finish college, I'll just grab a backpack and leave."

My brother and I looked at him, puzzled. "And what will you do Jerry?" asked a ten year old Sean.

"Walk." Our cousin replied flatly, staring into the distance. There were no dark rings around his eyes nor tiredness on his face, just hopeful illusion. "I'll go to London, or New York, or Paris or Rio or Tokyo or Delhi… I don't care. And I'll just walk until I get lost. Or my legs give out. Whatever happens first."

We then asked him if we could go with him. He smiled warmly. "Off course, when you're old enough!" was his playful reply.

So when midnight was near and the close sound of a car engine shattered the peace, I didn't want to believe that it was Jeremy. We told the Toys to just go to the stage, that it couldn't be a night guard, and to stay still. Jack hid in the secret room though, saying that he had a bad feeling. A minute later Sean, Ferny, Sarah and I entered Parts and Service. Though it was hard to believe, we realized with dread that the worn-out man in purple walking to the security office was our cousin. We knew what would happen next; nobody said anything.

After a while Freddy, Foxy, Chica and I left the dark corner of the building; overjoyed to see that the same person who had escaped us once had willingly returned to our claws.

* * *

**A/N: **So, I said that I'd wait till I finished this story before doing anything else, and again, I didn't keep my word :)

FNaF 4 came, broke my mind, and I couldn't help myself. It might seem contradictory that I'm announcing a new story after what I just said in the beginning, but this short fic will share the same loose update times as this one and I managed to scrape together enough time over the last month to have the first chapter done by now. Please guys, just have faith in me; I'm not letting you down this time.

And so, I can announce that the first chapter of _The one that was broken_ will most likely be up this Friday. Remember guys, there are 4 days left until the party, and you're all kindly invited...


	25. Bending the rules

**A/N: **Hey guys, welcome back! I know I'm a bit late, but I simply did not want to see this week pass by without updating anything. You don't deserve that, and besides I don't want to lose my writing rhythm. I spent a lot of time and effort on this chap, and I'm quite happy about the way it turned out. I wanted to make it long, since the last one was a bit short compared with what you've been getting since the start of Tape 2.

Well, I'm a bit tired so I'm keeping this short. Thanks again for being here and following the story, and remember that I really appreciate to read your reviews; they're a huge motivation. Take care guys, have a good week and happy reading! :)

* * *

**Chapter 25: Bending the rules**

"Get him!" I hissed from my dark viewing spot at the end of the Part Room corridor. Hiding in the shadows, we looked on in excitement at Foxy rushing down the pitch-black hall, his razor-sharp teeth and hook unveiled and ready for the kill. Competition was no longer a priority; all we wanted now was to see this guard in a suit, dead or dying. I remembered the joy of our first kill long ago; to relieve that excitement was becoming my addiction.

"Yes..." giggled Chica next to me, her voice trembling with anticipation, "Do it! Kill him now!"

Foxy was close to the office, about to do a final lethal dash at the unsuspecting human. The tired-looking man was still checking the monitors when he must've heard the metallic footsteps of the animatronic. The guard quickly grabbed his flashlight and shot a beam of blinding light at the red silhouette, making the fox growl in frustration as he covered his eyes and stumbled back into the nearest Party Room.

"Damn it!" hissed Freddy behind us. That was our last chance for tonight. The beeping of an alarm-clock barely started when the sound of heavy mechanical bodies crashing to the ground echoed through the building. Punching a wall in frustration, I glared at our slippery purple prize in the lit-up office. I expected him to be happy, to raise his arms in the air or taunt us for our lost.

Instead, I was delighted to see him burry his head in his hands miserably. He sighed deeply as he rubbed his tired, blood-shot eyes, trying to keep himself awake. I was already lying on the floor and there was no blood on my hands, but I was satisfied. Now, I knew that this was a war of wear and tear.

"Don't worry meatbag, I found out how to end your suffering." I cooed sweetly as I began to lose consciousness, "If we can't break your body first, we'll start by breaking your mind!" I let out a low, rolling chuckle before everything went black and silent.

* * *

And so, the last of Jeremy's second night played back in my mind as I came back to my senses on the Main Hall's floor. Was that blood-thirsty monster really part of me? This thought made me shiver and remember the words our killer told us over a year ago.

"There's evil inside of us, waiting to be free." said Walther, "And all that's needed for that liberation, for your real nature to grow into a magnificent fire, is a tiny spark. Eventually, you'll begin playing sooner and finish later. Your true and evil side will keep growing unstoppably, until it takes over that fake sense of humanity you so stupidly hold on to. Then we'll be the best of friends without the tiniest of differences between us!"

"Never." I hissed furiously at the haunting voice in my head, "We won't let that happen."

Groaning, I stood up and stretched my servos, while a single question repeated itself in my mind: Why didn't Jeremy quit after his first night? I painfully realized that if he came back for a second night, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't come back for a third.

The pizzeria was still dark and silent as I entered the Game Area. My brother, Jack, Sarah and Ferny were sitting on the Show Stage, whilst Mangle and Balloons were sitting together in a corner and Junior, Mini and TB stared out the window dreamily.

Sean looked at me, and balled his fist. "He came back Don." he hissed with frustration, low enough so that none of the Toys could hear him say my nickname. "After all that, he comes back."

"This can't keep going like this." said Ferny seriously, "Sooner or later, he'll run out of luck and it'll be over for him."

"We have to warn him again then!" replied Sarah immediately, "We'll leave him another note."

"He didn't listen to the first one," I countered, "so why would he listen to the second one."

My brother let out a stressed sigh. "And we never found those stupid tapes." he muttered, "Someone must've thrown them away when Freddy's moved here."

I nodded in agreement and sat on the floor next to him. "Jack, you're... uh... normal today, aren't you?" I asked, turning my head at the golden figure.

He looked up at me and gave me a little nod, before whispering "Y-your friends helped me g-get out of the room."

I looked at the red, brown and yellow figures. "Thanks guys."

Silence took over our group after they replied with a mumbled "No problem". It was hard to keep up a chat after you spent a night trying to murder a family member.

"So, we can't do anything?" I asked with a feeble voice.

Ferny tapped his foot, humming thoughtfully before confessing "I can't think of anything."

I realized that neither could I. "Brother?"

"I just don't know what to do Don." he replied, closing his eyes and sighing "This is just so… crazy."

With downed ears I got up and walked towards the three main Toys, their gloomily glowing eyes still staring out the window.

"Hey guys." I greeted, trying to lift up the mood, and failing.

"We did it again Mr. Bonnie." cried Mini, her girlish voice drowned in sadness. "How can we do something like that?!"

Sean stood up behind me and came by my side after hearing the heart-broken girl. "Look, whatever is happening, it's not your fault." he said immediately, "Just come with us, alright? I feel terrible as well, but we should be together right now. We still have a couple of hours."

Mini gave us a shy little nod. "I g-guess you're right Mr. Freddy," she sobbed, forcing a weak smile.

My brother smiled warmly at the small yellow animatronic as she came to his side. "Junior, are you coming?" he asked.

"Uh, sure Mr. Freddy." was the brown toy's answer. "Let's go."

"Mangle, Balloons, get up." called out Sean energetically, "You're with us as well."

The white fox and propeller-capped boy shot up from their spots; yellow and blue eyes suddenly a bit brighter.

"C'mon TB, let's go." I said cheerily to my silent counterpart.

He looked up at me, forcing a little smile. "I think I'll just stay here." he answered feebly.

"Bonnie, the arcades are over here!" called out Sarah.

"Just a moment." I replied aloud, before turning my head and looking out the window next to TB. "You'd rather be out there right now, right little me?"

A sad smile appeared on my counterpart's face. "Yeah…" he sighed, staying silent for a moment. He then began to rub his elbow awkwardly, looking down at his feet.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

TB looked up at me, then let his green eyes dart to the place of the Game Area where everyone was. "Can I tell you a secret Mr. Bonnie?" he asked shyly.

"Anything." I pointed at the long hydraulic things above my head. "I'm all ears."

My counterpart giggled and shook his head. "Thanks." he mumbled with a smile, before it disappeared and his eyes began to reflect some kind of nervousness. "I've been having weird nightmares lately. They all start out in the same way. I'm here, at Freddy's, surrounded by kids that are laughing and running around the Game Area. I'm with them, and I'm happy, and there are other little kids with me. But, I'm not… me."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm human." whispered TB slowly, "I'm a kid, just like everyone else." Something cold went through me as he said those words.

"I'm like the kids that come here every day," he continued, "and the four that are with me are my friends. I know them somehow. We laugh and eat pizza and have a fun time, but then we can't find the person that's with us. We start to feel afraid, and we pass by the show stage where I can see myself and Junior and Mini doing the show. The place is closing down and we still can't find the person we're looking for. We pass by the Party Rooms, and we see a weird animam… animatronic. He's like you, only golden, like Mr. Bucky."

TB's held on to his elbow nervously, closing his eyes. "You don't have to tell me this if you don't want to." I said.

"It's okay. It's just a dream." was his unsure reply. "But it still feels so… real. We follow him to a Party Room and he closes the door behind us. It's really dark, but I can still see the golden rabbit… rip his head off." TB's voice started to quiver. "Someone s-screamed, and we saw that it was a m-man in that suit all along. He t-took off the above of the suit, then the down part, and stepped out. He was s-smiling happily, and he took out a long knife, a-and he came to one of the girls that was with us, and g-grabbed her, and… and…"

My counterpart's light green eyes filled with horror, as if what he was describing was happening in front of him. "And he cut her neck." he whispered. "Then, he did that t-to another of my friends, and another, and another, and… and then he went to me."

"Don't." I interrupted. "Don't go on if you don't want to." However, I confess that I said that because the horrible images of my friends' death and mine played back in my mind, and disturbed me as much as what TB was saying.

"I tried to scream, t-to run." My counterpart carried on like he didn't hear me at all. "B-but he grabbed me by m-my arm and put his hand on my m-mouth. He raised his knife, and before it came down I saw someone standing behind him. It looked a bit like a man, but his body was long and black. I saw that he had a white face. Then, I wake up."

"You don't know who it was?" I asked, completely puzzled.

TB shook his head. "But it was just a bad dream Mr. Bonnie, I'm sure it doesn't mean anything."

Just after he said that, we heard a familiar voice say behind us "Hey TB, hey Bonnie. You're coming or not?" We turned around to see Marionette looking eagerly at us with his white face, his black arms crossed patently.

"Let's go little me." I said, taking my counterpart by his hand. He seemed relieved after telling me his nightmare, and walked along with me. Looking at Marionette from behind, an idea suddenly crossed my mind. But I quickly shook my head, scoffing inwardly at my crazy theory.

No, that was impossible.

* * *

Fer had always been something of a nerd, or as Sean liked to call him, a wiseass. So when he found some old editions of National Geographic buried underneath a pile of tapes in the security office a few weeks ago, he was _very_ happy about it. Mom used to say that you need an escape when things get rough and to get new ideas. Sometimes you need to leave the box for a minute and think outside of it. That afternoon, I wanted to at least do something good that night before turning into a killer. And after seeing TB stare dreamily out the window, the lightbulb above my head turned on.

We could bend the rules without breaking them. If we couldn't put the Toys outside, we would bring outside to them.

It was around 8:30 when we showed our counterparts the first magazine, and now it was almost 11. Everybody, including Jack and Marionette, was sitting around the magazine. It had been a great night so far.

Too great.

"…and they be pyramids." stated Ferny happily, pointing at the sand-colored monuments on the page, "They're very old, and very big." he continued, his voice sounding like a pirate trying to explain something to his parrot: slow, grave and happy.

Mangle stared down at the page from the ceiling, her yellow eye wide open in amazement. "What did they use them for cap Foxy?" she asked shyly.

"Arr, they be filled with mummies!" replied the pirate-imitator energetically, "When t' Egyptian's king back then, t' pharaoh, went to ole Davy Jones locker, his servants would mummify 'm so his soul could leave this world 'n rest in t' afterlife."

"Ooh…" chorused the amazed Toys.

"Aye, really interesting." smiled Ferny proudly, turning a page and showing a beautiful, rainbow-like hill of tulips with some windmills behind them.

"Hey, I know that!" chirped my brother, pulling the magazine in front of him, "That's in the Netherlands, right?"

"Aye lad!" replied Fer, "Mills were used t' drain lakes 'n swamps and t' create new land, or t' keep the land from floodin'."

"Wow, so they make mills to make sure the water doesn't drown them?!" exclaimed Balloons suddenly, "That's so cool!"

"They also make _really_ good cheese and cookies." added Sarah casually.

"Yeah, always wondered what they were like." hummed Sean dreamily, "But those kills are really beautiful."

It took us a second or two to realize what my brother just said. "Umm, Mr. Freddy?" started TB worriedly, "Are you alright?"

"Uh, y-yeah, of course!" stuttered Sean uneasily, before putting a hand on his chest. "Beautiful mills, he he, that's… that's wh-what I'm trying t-to say." He let out a short groan. "I'm f-fine."

But we saw how his blue eyes started to fade and brighten slowly. "Uh, Freddy?" whispered Sarah nervously as we slowly backed away from the brown figure, "Are you sure that you're alri-"

"I'M FINE CHICA!" roared my brother before falling on his back, blue eyes flickering rapidly as his body twitched and shook for a few seconds. He clutched at his red-glowing chest, then let go as his eyes turned off completely; only to start glowing again with a cold and emotionless light.

"…I'm fine." whispered Freddy slowly, letting out a dark, grave laugh at our fearful faces. "It feels good to begin a party early, doesn't it?"

Before we could recover from the shock all five Toys suddenly fell to the floor, their torso's lightening up the room with a bloody red. I instinctively grabbed Jack by the arm and dragged him to the kitchen while the sound of my friends' bodies falling on the hard tiles echoed behind us. We opened the door and rushed inside.

"Wh-what happened?" asked Jack, "I th-thought it was too early."

"It is." I replied anxiously, "You need to hide now, or I'll…" A burning sensation in my chest drowned the words in my mouth. Howling in pain, I fell on my knees and raised my head with great effort to see a scared Jack in front of me.

Too late. We were too late.

"I'm s-sorry buddy," I groaned, "but you'll have t-to protect yourself f-from me."

He shook his head before begging "P-please… please don't m-make me hurt you."

His heartbroken eyes made me feel the urge to cry. In that moment, I realized that the only thing more painful than seeing the ones you love get hurt, is knowing that you're the one that hurt them. "F-forgive me." I whimpered, "Please… forgive… m-me."

The kitchen came and went in flashes of light and darkness as my body twisted and shook itself on the floor. Faster than ever before, I felt that freezing cold and that murderous need take over. The last thing I thought of was how eager that dark side of me must be to tear Jack apart with his claws…

And I was. Standing in front of my thrown-down body was the golden bear I had longed to… educate, since that first night of freedom so long ago.

"Good night Bucky." I purred sweetly as I stood up, making him take a few steps back. "It's good to see you again."

"Please…" he wept pathetically, "p-please don't make me hurt my friend."

I burst out in laughs. "Ha ha! That was good! _You, _hurting _me_?! Heh, no, that's not how it's gonna work tonight." Bucky kept walking backwards, glaring at me with a mixture of anger, fear and pain as I came closer to him. "Your little friend can't do a thing. Tomorrow he's gonna wake up with the blood of a guard in one hand and with your head in the other." The bear's back hit the corner of the kitchen; the lamp behind me made my shadow cover more of the animatronic as I walked up to him. "Unless, of course, you stop being so annoying and come play with us." I was now in front of Bucky, and stretched my open hand to him. "We can all be playmates then! Everything will be forgiven if you just forget about your friend and join us. We could have lots of fun together, more than you can imagine!"

"No." hissed back the golden figure, "I'll n-never be like y-"

"Wrong answer little bear." My open hand closed itself around Bucky's cold metal throat. "I wonder how that brat will feel when he wakes up on top of your broken endoskeleton."

"G-give back my f-friend!" roared the bear, "I want him b-back!"

A low chuckle escaped my throat as I tightened my steely grip. "How sweet. Don't worry, he'll remember you said that, just like every scream of pain you made as I tore your fingers out of your hand. Now, shall we begin?"

Suddenly, something made me let go of Bucky. I involuntarily backed away a few steps from him, cursing my feet mentally. "What the hell is happening to me?!" I hissed furiously as I felt my chest burn. In front of me, that same animatronic I was so close to tearing apart was now pointing at me with an open hand. Through my fading vision, I could see a faint red glow come out of his chest.

Growling out of pure hate, I clenched my fist with all my might. "You freaking coward!" I blurted out furiously, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!"

"Helping you." whispered the golden figure calmly, before everything disappeared to darkness and silence.


	26. Masks off

**A/N: **Happy Sunday guys, and welcome back. I'm really excited, since today I have a big reveal for you. It's something I had planned since day one, and I've been leaving clues about it since Ch. 20. Hopefully, I was clear enough to make you suspicious, but not enough to reveal it. Please, let me know if you saw this coming or not, so I'll know what to improve before the next big plot twist ;)

As always, a big thank you to the people who reviewed. Please let me know if you liked this one, if you spotted an error, or if you think there is something I can improve on. Also, happy Halloween since we'll be seeing each other after the 31st. And now, happy reading ;)

* * *

**Chapter 26: Masks off**

The pain of my own headache woke me up. Groaning, I saw how the little LED's of my broken head brought some light to wherever I was.

"Wh... what happened?" I moaned weakly, taken over by confusion until the mist in my head cleared up. I remembered the magazines, the laughs and happiness that were shattered immediately as my friends lost control. The run to the kitchen, the pain in my chest and the overwhelming desire to kill and destroy followed. I saw Jack standing in front of me, a feeble red glow lighting up his torso. Then, I was here.

I leaned my elbow on the floor to stand up, only to feel a sharp burning sensation shoot through me from my chest, making my heavy body fall down again. I hissed in pain as I realized that I couldn't move. Turning my head around, I saw two tiny white lights appear a few feet in front of me, barely lighting up the edge of their golden eye sockets.

"Y-you're awake." whispered Jack happily as he stood up and slowly walked to me.

"I guess I am." I rasped out. "Do you remember what happened?"

The small lights bobbed up and down in the darkness. "I g-guessed that maybe I c-could make you come back. I'm n-not sure how I d-did it. I dragged you in here, the s-secret room, after you passed o-out. But it's still early, so they, they're still..." he sighed "…bad."

A deep guilt came to me when I remembered last night. "I'm sorry Jack. I almost hurt you again."

"It's okay, r-really." he said warmly, almost like it was nothing. "I would d-do the same if I d-didn't have this thing." He pointed at his chest.

"I guess you're right." I suddenly remembered something else that surprised me. "You said I was your friend." Jack looked at me with confusion. "It's just... you've never actually called me like that before."

The weakly-lit golden silhouette shrugged. "Well, n-now you know." he let out a shy, guilty giggle.

A warm feeling flooded my body, making me forget about the horror we were going through for a moment. "So, friends till the end?" I asked hopefully.

Jack nodded. "Friends t-till the end."

* * *

The hours went by slowly as I regained my strength. The silence that filled the room was long, but not awkward. Every once in a while some heavy footsteps approached the hidden space, making the tension rise momentarily, but they always left the kitchen fairly quickly. Still, an uneasy feeling lingered in me. My friends were out there, forced to hunt down an unsuspecting Jeremy because _something _is allowing their evil nature to take over and grow_,_ while I was hiding away without doing anything.

"It's not fair." I muttered softly, suddenly ending the quietness.

Sitting next to me, Jack turned his head from the circles he was tracing to look up at me, and asked "What d-do you mean?"

I sighed. "I know I can't do anything to help Jeremy, my brother, or anyone actually. But still... I feel like there must be something I should do." My ears perked up as an idea came to me. "Hey, you could bring me back, right?" I told Jack enthusiastically, "I'm sure you can do the same with everyone else!"

He shifted around uneasily in his spot, and looking down, mumbled "I... I d-don't know. What if I do s-something wrong?" He raised his open hand, staring at it like it was something strange. "These things I c-can do... I'm scared that I m-might hurt one of y-you with them."

I sighed as my ears drooped back down, but I was not going to force him to do something he against his will.

A few minutes later we heard the tell-tale sound of metal falling on the floor. Hoping that Jeremy was alright, I slowly pushed the kitchen shelf aside with Jack's help and peaked out of the dark room to see if it was safe.

"I want to go with you." chimed the golden figure behind me suddenly.

"I can't let you go buddy." was my reply, "If one of them is still awake, they will attack you. But they know me. Well, they know Bonnie. You understand?" He gave me a reluctant nod and leaned against the doorframe of the secret room.

I turned around and stepped into the Game Area, only to face the sight of Balloons, Junior, Sean and Sarah's bodies lying lifelessly on the floor without any light in their eyes. It felt strangely painful to see my friends like that, and knowing that I've been in the same place before didn't make things better. They looked so… helpless. I was about to enter the Main Hall, when the noise of footsteps pacing back and forth behind me froze me on the spot.

"How long before they kill him?" asked a distant, not-too-strange voice anxiously. Slowly turning my head around, I realized that it came from the Prize Corner. Overflowing with nervousness I began to sneak as quietly as I could to the small room.

"Don't worry, he'll never get the chance to find out the truth." My body turned to ice; my throat became a knot. That was Marionette's voice. "They still don't know anything about you, but the boy with the third special seal might become a problem eventually."

I was now right outside the door, and heard the oddly familiar voice sigh, before it replied "I hoped he wouldn't find out. But as long as he won't do anything too dangerous leave him alone."

"Off course." replied the puppet respectfully. "And, what will we do about _him_?"

The voice giggled sinisterly. "I guess you're talking about our little spy that's hearing us right now aren't you?" An unbearably loud silence followed, but something deep inside me screamed that I was in danger. I tried to spin around and run off, but my body was suddenly and painfully paralyzed in place. I began to quiver in fear and anger when I remembered that only one person in the world could do that, and it was the owner of that disgustingly nonchalant voice, who was now stepping out of the room with big arrogant strides, a mocking smirk, and a purple uniform.

"Hello Bonnie." greeted Walther cheerily, crossing his arms at me as his smile grew wider and smugger. "It's been so long."

"You…" I balled my only fist at the cause of all our suffering, and roared with all my hate "YOU FREAKING MURDERER! I'LL KILL YOU!" But no matter how much I struggled, my feet didn't slide an inch.

My killer just looked at me with crossed arms, chuckling at my useless struggles as his chest glowed with a weak red. "I missed you too buddy." he cooed.

Marionette now appeared behind Walther, and shook his head disapprovingly at me. "Oh, Pizza Boy…" he sighed dramatically, "You should've just played along. It would've made things so much easier for everybody."

I now turned my sight on the puppet. "And you…" I growled lowly, "You disgusting traitor…"

The black figured raised his slender shoulders indifferently. "How can I be a traitor if I was never on your side?" he replied coldly, stepping next to Walther.

"Why?" Marionette looked at me like my question didn't make any sense. "Why are you helping the man that killed you?!"

Walther smiled and the puppet laughed. "You can't see it, can you?" wheezed the latter, "Do you know what my human life was like?" He let a few seconds of silence pass, as if to let me think of an answer, but nothing came to my mind. Marionette stepped closer to me, his small pinpoint eyes pierced through mine. "I spent the first twelve years of my miserable humanity in an orphanage, but they kicked me out when I grew too old. The next night, I was sleeping in a dumpster, too numb to even cry. I realized I was not worth anything more than the trash under me. I had no parents, no friends, nothing_._

"Somehow, I managed to survive two years. I roamed around town like a ghost; invisible and half-dead. On a sunny day, I came across this lovely place called Fredbear's Family Diner. It was beautiful: small, cozy, warm… the opposite of the streets. I looked through the glass, and saw a robot bear take cake to a bunch of crying kids. 'Spoiled brats.' I thought, 'Crying over something as stupid as who gets cake first.' I felt my eyes moist from sadness and anger, but that wasn't the worst part. Right in front of the stage was a happy family of four. I remember it too well: the mother looked radiant and smiled beautifully, the father was proudly showing off his police uniform, and the two boys that could only be brothers laughed and sang along with the golden animatronics on stage. Well, only the older one could sing; he was about seven. The younger just babbled along, he was only three or so... and I was still outside and alone. Suddenly, all the tears I'd been holding back for the past two years poured out of my eyes. They left clean streaks on my dirty cheeks, and with each second I bawled and cried more." Marionette's voice quivered. "I was so sad at myself, and so mad at them. What made them better than me? Why could they have _everything _I could only dream of?! WHY DID _THEY _DESERVE TO BE HAPPY?!"

It took my tangled mind some time to realize he was asking those questions to me. The puppet cleared his throat before resuming. "Then, I turned around to see a tall man in a spotless purple uniform smiling tenderly at me. I couldn't remember the last time someone actually did that; I think it was the first time in my life."

"I was arriving at Freddy's when I saw him crying on the sidewalk." added Walther nostalgically. "And I realized that I just had to put him out of his misery." He said that last part proudly, like he had done a good deed. "No one even noticed he was dead until the next day."

Marionette nodded in agreement. "I wasn't afraid when he pulled out the knife. I can't even remember what went through my mind when he did it, besides thinking that maybe this was for the best." His tone went from nostalgic to cheery. "And it really was! True, I was a bit surprised when I woke up as this thing, but Walther was sitting right next to me inside the dark and closed Fredbear's. He told me the truth about the blood seals, the red book and what I could do. As confused as I was, I knew that now I was worth _something_ in this new life." The voice I thought I knew got a sinister and lunatic tone. "The first thing I did was make me forget my old name. I wasn't that useless piece of trash anymore, I was… better. The more time I spent like this, the more I liked it."

Walther chuckled with satisfaction. "You see Bonnie? He understands what I tried to tell you long ago. Anyways, the diner had to close down because of what I did, but Erik and Dave covered everything up so well that no one put the blame on me or the company, and after a couple of months we were back in business as Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A few days later, two kids got lost and stayed there after closing time. I was excited to see that the blood seals actually worked, and well… it was a great opportunity." The calmness in his tone sickened me. "Unfortunately, Dave saw me. He simply told me I had to leave the company now, and never come back." He clenched his teeth, and hissed furiously "I thought he was my friend, I thought he would understand, but that idiot became Erik's lapdog since."

"And again, everything was covered and someone else took the fall." resumed the puppet. "I had to take part of some stupid kid's show, but it was still much better than my old life. A year passed, and everything was going well… until I saw that stupid happy family from Fredbear's way in the back. The brothers had grown quite a bit, and as soon as the younger one saw me he started screaming and crying like the brat he was. I hated them, _all _of them." Suddenly, Marionette began to chuckle to himself. "Oh, but here comes the cherry on top of the cake! Apparently, that snotty toddler hated me as well, 'cause he grabbed his slice of pizza and threw it right at my face!" The knot in my throat tightened as the laughing puppet brought its pale face close to me, and whispered blood-chillingly "You do remember that, right Pizza Boy?" I answered with silence. "What do you have to say now?"

"I'm sorry." Marionette and Walther stared at me with puzzled eyes. "You didn't deserve what happened to you, and I'm sorry that you had a miserable life. But that does _not _give you the right to make other people's lives miserable!" I turned to look at my killer, and demanded furiously as I glared daggers at him "What did we even do to you?!"

A smirk appeared on Walther's face. "You, Bonnie?" he shrugged. "Nothing really. That Williams kid on the other hand?" His smile disappeared as he frowned angrily. "More than you can ever imagine. All I did was bring justice."

"Justice?" I repeated in a hateful hiss, "_Justice?! _You killed my friends, my brother, five kids who were all under six years old, the two that you turned into Shadows… and you call that JUSTICE?!" Never in my life had I felt so much rage; but no matter how hard I tried, not a gear in my body would turn.

"I don't really feel like telling you now." replied the man in purple flatly, before glancing at his wrist-watch "Maybe later, when we have the time."

"But you don't." I whispered with confidence, making my killer raise an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Over a year ago we left five tapes to our families that will send you straight to the electric chair. We didn't find them, but that only means one thing: _somebody_ did, and that somebody will come and…"

My voice trailed off as Walther burst out in laughs, slapping his knee. "Y-you're right Bonnie," he wheezed as he pinched a tear from his eye, "someone did find a box with tapes!" Still giggling, he reached into his purple jacket's pocket, and pulling out a small cassette triumphantly, taunted "I guess you mean these ones, right?"

The hour-long message I had recorded for Mom with so much hope and illusion was in my killer's hand. He turned it around a few times, inspecting it like it was a strange object. "It wasn't as interesting as your friends' to be honest." he mumbled absent-mindedly, "Not _as_ dangerous for me, but still…" He dropped the cassette on the floor like it was a cigarette butt. "It's a bit _too_ dangerous."

I felt like someone punched me in the stomach when Walther's boot crushed the feeble plastic casing, before he kicked away the destroyed cassette under some dinner tables. "Y'know," he put his hand on his chin theatrically, "I still have the other ones with me, how careless. Thanks for reminding me about them Bonnie." Ignoring my low growl, he once again checked his watch. "I wish I could stay, but seeing that your friends are about to wake up, I better leave."

Without saying another word he walked past me briskly. "You'll pay for this." I growled as his footsteps clacked behind my back.

Walther stopped immediately, and stayed still before walking back to me and whispering confidently "This is a game of gambling, so I only have to pay if I lose. But as you've seen so far, I _always _win." Having said that, he once again walked away towards the Main Hall, before I heard a door open and close. As soon as he was out of the building the strain on my joints disappeared, letting my weakened body collapse on the floor. Panting, I managed to put myself on all threes and raise my head slowly to see Marionette staring down at me, confidence and dominance oozing out of his pinpoint eyes.

"We're going easy on you Brandon, I hope you know that." he said matter-of-factly, "I could easily wipe away your will or your memories, but there is something extra fun about seeing how you lose them every night."

"You're the one behind that, aren't you?" I croaked out weakly at Marionette before shaking my head. "And you said you couldn't do anything."

The puppet shrugged, and replied indifferently "I said a lot of stuff, but that was somewhat true. I don't control you every night; all I did was use my seal once to set your inner demons free." He leaned his tall, thin body down, and looked at me like there was something on me. "And I can see them now, growing and feasting on your old self as they slowly take over your mind… how beautiful."

"Save the speech." I mumbled angrily as I began to put my trembling body on two feet. "As soon as everyone comes back to their senses, I'll tell them _everything_; they will know who you really are." I turned around, and started walking away from Marionette, back to my unconscious friends.

"Sure, you can do that if you want." called out the puppet behind me, "Then I'll simply tell Sean that his dear mother died over a year ago and you kept it a secret for all that time." I stopped dead in my tracks, and balled my hand into a fist as Marionette chuckled mockingly behind me. "Mind seal, remember? Did you really think you could hide a secret from _me_? I wonder how your brother will feel, knowing that his own flesh and blood lied to him about something like that for so long." Silently, I turned around to face the puppet. "So, let's make a deal Pizza Boy. I won't tell your secret if you don't tell mine. Agreed?"

"You know, I trusted you." I whispered bitterly, "I really did."

"Yes or no?!" hissed the slender figure impatiently as he looked at something behind me. I turned around and saw that the light was slowly returning to my friends' eyes.

After a long silence, I lowered my head in shame and whimpered a weak and reluctant "…yes." At the same time, my brother groaned as he slowly woke up in front of me. He held his head and looked around the dark Game Area with confusion until his eyes met mine.

"Hey private." greeted Sean weakly, "Uh, c-could you help me get up? That knee is really killing me." Without saying a word I walked up to him, grabbed his hand and pulled him up, making sure to look at anything but his eyes. "Jeremy's alright isn't he?" he asked as soon as he was back on his feet, "I don't remember getting him last night."

"Me neither." I replied flatly, turning my head sideways.

"And are _you_ alright?" asked my worried brother as he put a hand on my shoulder. My answer was a silent nod. "Don, I know you." he whispered with more urgency, "Look at me in the eyes and tell me that everything's alright."

I raised my head and focused on someone that was right behind Sean to give the illusion that I was looking at him directly. It was Marionette, who in turned glared at me anxiously with crossed arms.

"Don't worry, I'm alright." I lied, feeling dirtier than when my body was covered in my own blood. "Everything's alright."


	27. A delayed meeting

**A/N: **Welcome back guys. I'm sorry for the long wait, but things have been quite hectic for me these last few days. I was going to upload this yesterday at night, but the power (that includes my Internet) went out in my place and didn't come back until now, so that's why I'm making and exception and I'm uploading on a week day.

But nonetheless, here we are. As always, a big thank you to those of you who reviewed. And if you spotted an error or you think there's something I can improve, please be kind enough to let me know. And now, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 27: A delayed meeting**

"You've been quiet today Brandon." started Sarah in a soft voice.

I was sunk so deep in my thoughts, lying on my back and staring at the ceiling of Parts and Service, that I barely heard her. "What do you mean?" I replied mechanically.

"Well, you always talk to us or play with Jack while we wait for the place the close." was her answer, "But today you haven't said a word."

"I was sleeping." I lied, still fixated on the nothingness of the ceiling.

And yet, I could almost feel my brother looking doubtfully at me. "Private, your red backlights only turn off when you're sleeping," he said flatly, "you've been awake since yesterday."

Not bothering to look at him, I mumbled "Funny that we need less sleep as the time goes on, right?" I shook my head. "It's like we're becoming less and less human every day."

Sean sighed. "Is that what you've been thinking about for the past ten hours?"

"…Yes." I lied again. In reality I was still dealing with the fact that Marionette was helping Walther, while the undeniable reality of Jeremy coming back tonight just so we could kill him lingered heavily in the back of my mind.

"That's not good for you Don." said my worried brother, "Don't forget what we said when we woke up in these bodies: we will never, _ever _let this change who we are and what we mean to each other."

The rage that I've been trying to hold down since the puppet's betrayal finally got the best of me. "Even if we've been trying to kill our own cousin for the past three nights?!" I blurted out, sitting up and glaring at an unimpressed Sean, "Even if we actually enjoy doing it?! _Everything_ is different now!"

An awkward silence filled the room. Jack stopped doing his puzzle to look at me with the same surprise in his eyes as Fer and Sarah; but my brother was unfazed. "You only get moody like this when something bad happened." he whispered calmly, "Again, if there is something wrong you _need _to tell me."

I turned my eyes away from him and muttered "Just what I said before."

Sean was about to say something, but he was cut off by the announcement of the pizzeria closing for the day. Secretly pleased that I was saved by the bell, we waited for the last employees to leave before the five of us exited the service room. TB, Mini and Junior were already standing in front of the Show Stage by the time we got there. As soon as they saw us, our counterparts walked to us quickly and happily with suddenly brighter eyes.

"Everything alright Junior?" asked Sean after both he and Junior had tipped their hats at each other.

"I guess so Mr. Freddy." replied my brother's chubby counterpart, "But we saw the night guard today."

Sean, Ferny, Sarah and I exchanged confused and surprised glances, before I asked anxiously "How did you know it was him? What did he do?"

"Well…" hummed Mini thoughtfully as she turned her light blue gaze at me. "He had those same black rings around his eyes, and he looked very tired." Smiling like it was the most obvious thing in the world, she raised her shoulders. "And, well, he looked just like him!"

TB nodded in agreement. "He was walking very quickly, like he was in a hurry. He went into the Main Hall and came back here after a few minutes, putting something in his pocket. He was about to leave, but he saw something weird under one of the empty dining tables. It was small, squarish, black and grey with something like a black thread all around it. He picked it up, looked at like he didn't know what it was and put it in his pocket. After that, he just left."

"And everyone saw the same thing?" asked Ferny with his accent. The blue, yellow and brown Toys nodded at the same time.

"Speaking of everybody," called out Sean, "where are Mangle and Balloons?"

The three main Toys raised their shoulders right as the unmistakable sound of metal scraping across the tiled floor was heard.

"C'mon Mangle, a little help would be nice!" groaned Balloons as he dragged what remained of the white fox out of Kid's Cove. Mangle's state was always bad, but tonight it was hard to even recognize her; the metallic body had been twisted and torn apart mercilessly by kids throughout the day.

Ferny was the first to rush to the duo, followed closely by us. "Lass, ye alright?" he asked worriedly as he got beside his counterpart, "Come 'ere, I'll try t' get ya fixed."

"Umm, t-thanks a lot cap Foxy, but I'm fine." mumbled Mangle shyly.

"Fine?" huffed Balloons, "You can't even drag yourself along the floor, let alone swing!" It was somewhat admirable that she never complained about her condition, but seeing her in that particularly bad state was hard on everybody.

"He's right. It's not good for you to be like that." added Sarah.

The torn up animatronic looked at us with surprise. "W-would you really do that for me?" she asked, whispering, "Isn't it too much trouble?"

"Oh, please!" muttered an irritated Fer as he walked up to the twisted fox and grabbed one of her feet. "We're supposed t' help each other, aren't we lass?" Mangle nodded quickly. "Balloons, grab her other hand." commanded our mechanic energetically, "Fred, Bon, help me out 'ere; we only have a couple of hours."

* * *

Ferny wheezed, letting his body slump backwards against a wall. "Try it out lass." he said with a tired smile as he dropped his wrench on the floor.

Mangle, now looking like she did when we first met, started to push up her twisted yet working body. With the ease that always surprised me she clung an arm-like thing to the ceiling and started swinging herself around the service room, smiling and giggling excitedly. After about a minute she stopped, and stared down at our unofficial mechanic with joy and happiness. "Th…thank you so much cap Foxy." she whispered.

Fer raised his shoulders like it was nothing. "Ahh, not a problem lass." he dismissed calmly, "Glad I could help ye out." Sean patted his red shoulders proudly before helping him get up, and soon the four of us were leaving the small room. They were little moments of joy like these, I thought, that kept us going through it all.

Junior, TB, Mini and Balloons ran towards Mangle with smiles on their faces as soon as they saw the white fox. "Much better, right?" chuckled Junior.

The twisted figure nodded, and whispered "Much better."

Clearly excited, TB quickly hopped to me. "Thank you Mr. Bonnie." he beamed.

"I barely did anything." I replied, "You should thank Foxy, not me."

"Oh… alright." My counterpart turned around and shouted a loud "Thank you cap Foxy!" at our red friend, who waved back with his hook. TB then slowly turned back to me, and rubbing his elbow, asked "Could you tell me a bit more about the outside world Mr. Bonnie?"

I chuckled and ruffled his ears. "Anytime little me. Do you have one of those magazines?" Nodding with perked-up ears, he opened his chest and handled me over the National Geographic.

* * *

"And those are rose fields!" I pointed my worn-out finger at the bright red and green landscape on the page, and TB's eyes grew wide and bright with the sight. We were the only ones in the Game Area, since Ferny, my brother and Sarah were still fixing some little details with Mangle in Parts and Service with Jack, while the other Toys rested in a Party Room.

"It's just like the one I have!" he chirped, pulling his rose out of his chest. The plastic thing had already lost one of his petals, but my counterpart still treasured it like a precious gem. He stared at it and at the page with wonder. "They're beautiful aren't they?" I nodded silently. "I can't wait to go outside and see this place!"

"Me neither." I mumbled uneasily, scratching the back of my head. We were so focused on the magazine that none of us heard the quiet footsteps of the approaching black and slender figure.

"Hello TB, hello Bonnie." greeted Marionette with a sickeningly sweet voice, eyeing the magazine. "Nice little thing you have there!"

"Hi Mr. Mario, thank you very much!" chirped my counterpart as I threw a dirty glare at the puppet. "Cap Foxy found it with other old papers."

"I meant the flower actually ." chuckled Marionette, "Mind if I look at it for a second?"

"Yes, we do." I hissed angrily, "It's his rose, not yours."

"Relax Bonnie, I just want to see it, nothing else." he replied calmly, "But only if that's okay with TB."

My counterpart nodded and handled over the rose to the puppet, who grabbed it carefully with his needle-like fingers and held it in front of his white face. "It's funny." he whispered absent-mindedly, "How something so beautiful and so innocent is also so fragile." He looked down at TB for a moment, and instantly I felt my hand clench itself into a fist. Marionette then stared back at the flower. "I mean, all that's needed is a little careless mistake on your part…" He stared down at me with piercing pinpoint eyes, "And all that prettiness will wither and die."

"Then you just have to take good care of those roses." I replied coldly and flatly, "And protect them against anything, or _anyone_, that could hurt them."

The puppet chuckled. "You can only do so much. Maybe that something or someone is more powerful than you think."

"Well," I raised my head defiantly, "maybe that something or someone is being a bit arrogant."

A tense silence followed as Marionette and I glared at each other in the eyes, but there was no need for words; all our hatred was laid bare right there and then.

"Mr. Bonnie, Mr. Mario, is everything okay?" mumbled TB unsurely after a few seconds.

"Off course!" chirped the puppet as he handled the flower to my counterpart, "Everything's alright, isn't it Bonnie?"

"Yeah, perfect." I muttered bitterly, right as the unexpected sound of a rattling doorknob silenced the three of us. TB and Marionette scrambled to hide themselves in a hurry, way faster than my worn-out body would allow; by the time they were out of view I was only getting up. I started to rush to Kid's Cove, when I heard the main door open behind me.

"Brandon?" gasped Jeremy's voice. The sound of my name coming from his mouth paralyzed me. Slowly and fearfully, I turned around to see his darkened silhouette by the door, along with his tired and teary eyes. 'Is… is that really you?"

Still in shock, I forced my broken head to move up and down. My cousin covered his mouth as a river of tears began to flow down his face. I began to slowly walk up to him, almost unconsciously.

"I'm… I'm so s-sorry." Sobbing uncontrollably, Jeremy leaned against a wall when I was in front of him. "It's all m-my fault. If I h-hadn't given you the t-tickets, if I hadn't b-believed that so-called uncle of y-yours…" He balled his fists and grit his teeth. "N-none of this w-would've happened. I'm s-sorry… I'm sor-"

Crying of joy, I pulled my cousin into a tight hug with my only arm. Jeremy buried his tear-stained face in my dirty fur and wrapped his arms awkwardly around my huge frame. "Y-you've grown a b-bit!" he stuttered, laughing and crying at the same time. It was then that some heavy footsteps approached us.

"Bon, TB, are you here?" called out my brother in the distance. I let go of Jeremy and looked at the glowing blue eyes approaching from the Main Hall. "I heard a door open and… Jerry?!"

Our cousin wiped the tears off his eyes, and greeted the brown figure with a smile. "Hey Sean!"

With unbelieving eyes, Sean limped as quickly as he could with his missing kneecap to our relative and pulled him into a rib-breaking hug. "I can't believe you know!" he laughed, effortlessly raising the man in purple off the floor. "How are you?!"

When Jeremy didn't answer, we remembered that anyone who didn't have a blood seal couldn't hear us talk. Sean released our cousin, allowing him to regain his breath and footing. Jeremy then fished a couple of cassettes from his purple uniform's pockets.

"I guess you need these, right?" he smiled proudly and popped the tapes into our built-in players, that were miraculously still there and functional.

Sean pressed play and whispered "I'm so happy to see you Jerry, but we need to talk somewhere safe. Let's go to the kitchen, we'll explain some things there." My brother pressed stop, rewind and play, and after a couple of seconds his voice crackled out of the beaten-down voicebox. Holding back his tears of excitement at hearing Sean's voice, Jeremy eagerly followed us to the kitchen.

* * *

"I really don't know what made me pick up that broken cassette." explained our cousin dressed in purple, leaning against an oven "I forgot my wallet in the security office, came back for it and simply saw that tape under a table. I thought, why not? I had nothing better to do for the day and I've barely been able to sleep since… _that _happened to you. I took this job thinking that the management wasn't telling the whole story, so I decided to investigate. "

"How did you fix the tape?" I asked eagerly, before rewinding the cassette and pressing play. My voicebox then repeated the question.

"Who do you think your mother called when one of her cassettes got messed up?" he chuckled, "Sometimes they actually teach us a useful thing or two in electrical engineering."

My brother chuckled and rewound his tape. "And how is Mom doing Jerry?"

The happiness inside of me was instantly replaced by a feeling of dread. Jeremy's smile disappeared just as fast, and he looked around the dark kitchen uneasily, away from Sean. "Aunt Clara? Umm, she…" When his eyes fell on me, I shook my head slightly, praying that Jeremy would understand my gesture. He cleared his throat after seeing this and whispered with a forced smile "She's alright, but she misses you every day."

My brother and I sighed at the same time. He did it out of nostalgia, while I did it out of a guilty feeling of relieve. "Please, when you can, tell her that we're still here and bring us some new tapes." pleaded Sean.

Jeremy nodded, struggling to keep up his uneasy smile. "Next week I'll go visit her, so I can buy some cassettes over the weekend, bring them to you and we can send them to her. And, uh, Ferny and Sarah are like you now, right?"

Relieved that our cousin changed the subject of the conversation, I rewound my tape and replied "Yeah, but they're with the Toys, so we can't call them over right now." We had previously told Jeremy that the Toys were also dead children trapped inside animatronics, but much younger and unable to remember their human lives; however we didn't tell him about the blood seals, what they were for and what they could do.

"Guess we'll just have to wait a while." sighed Jeremy, "But I still don't know why you all kept playing that game with me, instead of just telling me the truth." Chuckling, he added "Seeing Freddy's animatronics walk on their own and get into your office can get pretty creepy."

We were so excited to talk with our cousin again that we forgot to tell him the most important thing. "Jerry, that was not a game." I said flatly, before quickly looking at the digital clock of the microwave.

11:56 PM.

"What do you mean?" asked Jeremy after my voicebox repeated my sentence.

"At midnight, and sometimes earlier, we… change." explained Sean with a quivering voice after seeing the microwave's clock. "Something makes us forget who we are, and all we can think about is killing the night guard. Someone already died a year ago because of us, and the person who worked before you barely got out alive. Jerry, if you don't leave now, we might hurt you."

Jeremy listened to the repetition with a blank expression. "That can't be true, right?" he asked hopefully. "I'm sure you wouldn't do something like that!"

11:57 PM

I rewound my tape. "We used to think the same, but when that clock turns to twelve... it's like being a completely different person. Please, _please _get out and don't come back at night."

Right after I said that, multiple footsteps ran towards us. Three withered red, yellow and gold blurs rushed into the kitchen. "Guys," panted Sarah, "we came here to hide Jack and… J-Jeremy?!" It was hard to say who was more confused, our cousin or the three figures who had just entered the room.

"So, I'm guessing that Sarah is Chica, Ferny is Foxy, and Bucky is…"

"Jack." I finished hastily whilst holding my player's rewind button, "His name is Jack Schmidt." I stood up and grabbed the hand of the boy in question, then dragged the stunned golden figure towards the shelf.

11:58 PM

"Jeremy, I'm telling you to run, _now_." begged Sean anxiously before he helped me push the shelf aside. After half a minute, the passage to the secret room was uncovered.

"He k-knows?" asked Jack as he entered the dark hidden space.

"Yeah." I grunted, closing the hole with his and my brother's help. "I think it's better to talk in the morning."

11:59 PM

"Why are you putting him in there?" asked a puzzled Jeremy.

"So we won't destroy him." I replied matter-of-factly, "If you go now you might make it to the door."

"I can't do that." Our four sets of eyes stared at the man in purple with confusion. "The contract says that if I miss a single night of work during the first week, I won't be able to work as a night guard here for at least a year. Plus I won't get paid."

"Then I guess this is goodbye Jerry." sighed my brother, "I'm sorry, but we'd rather not see you again than live with the guilt of having killed you."

"And I'm sorry guys," whispered Jeremy decidedly after the words came out of the voicebox, "but I'd rather die than live with the guilt of abandoning you after what I did."

"You didn't do anything!" I blurted out desperately, "In seconds at least one of us will try to kill you, plus you still have to worry about the Toys! Please, I really don't want to hurt y-"

A burning deep inside of me turned my words into a painful groan. Falling on my knees as the voicebox parroted my words, I glanced at the glowing numbers of the microwave.

12:00 AM

"Brandon?" asked a worried Jeremy, "Are you alright?"

"No…" I croaked out, "N-not him, please not h-him." I bent over as my chest started to glow with a blood-colored light, "I don't want to kill him! I don't want to…"

With a short cry, I finally lost control over my body that started to twist and twitch on the floor. A confusing storm of thoughts and memories roared in my mind, but then it went quiet, and was replaced by a dark and cold emptiness. A horrible… _wonderful_… emptiness.

"I don't want… to… let... him live." I whispered bloodthirstily as I saw the night guard in front of me. "Hello, meatbag. Nice to see you again!"

* * *

**A/N: **I _really _hope you like cliffhangers. This wasn't the way I originally intended this to end, but it's honestly better than what I had in mind. Don't worry, I won't make you wait so long again ;) Thanks for reading guys, and I'll see you soon. Take care and have a good week.


	28. Wrath and patience

**A/N: **Hi guys, welcome back. I wanted to apologize deeply for the massive delay with this chapter. Unfortunately, I came down with a nasty case of writer's block, but I _finally _managed to get back into the fic. Thank you very much for your support and patience during this time, and I hope you enjoy this very hard-to-make chapter.

In other news I'll be starting college once again soon, so remember that while I want to give you all frequent updates, sometimes it's simply not possible. Please, _bear_ with me. (Pun intended)

Since it's been so long, I recommend giving a quick recap to your favorite parts of the story so far, just to get back in touch. But, off course, that's up to you ;) In any case, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 28: Wrath and patience**

Without hesitation I lunged myself at the night guard, eager to finally satisfy my burning desire to kill. My metal hand was inches away from the stunned young man's throat when I felt someone kick my ankle, making me trip over and fall flatly on the ground. Growling with anger, I looked behind me to see Chica standing next to Freddy and Foxy; her purple eyes reflected regret as they looked down at me.

"What are you doing?!" I snarled, trying to put myself on my knees. Without saying a word, the three figures walked towards the guard while I stumbled and fell, mentally cursing my terrible state and the animatronics standing protectively in front of the guard.

Foxy turned around to look at the confused human, and pressing some buttons on his cassette recorder, said flatly "Jeremy, you need to run away from us now_._ Brandon lost control and soon we will too." The fox barely had time to say these words before falling unto his knees, grunting as he held his hook to his chest. With an expression of doubt and pain, the guard looked at me one more time before turning around and dashing away from the kitchen.

Snickering softly to myself, I finally managed to stand up and slowly walk towards the yellow and brown animatronics, who watched helplessly how Foxy twisted painfully on the floor. "You stupid, stubborn brats." I chuckled, "Can't you see that this is who we were meant to be? You're just delaying the inevitable."

Chica looked at me sadly and whispered "We're your friends Brandon, and Jeremy is your family. Please, I know you can hear me."

I stomped my way towards the chicken, feeling my anger flare up with every step. "I'm not in the mood for this tonight." I muttered furiously, "If you don't get out of my way now, I'll rip off that broken jaw of yours so slowly and painfully that you'll be begging me to turn you off completely. Am I clear?"

A few seconds of tense silence passed, before she raised her defiant purple gaze to me. "Go on." she hissed, "But I'm not moving from here."

"Don't talk like that Sarah!" whispered Freddy nervously behind her, "He _will _do it. Don't…" The bear's voice cut off as his chest began to glow red, and with a loud _clang _he too collapsed on the floor.

Chuckling mockingly, I slowly walked towards Chica, who stared nervously at the red and brown figures twisting on the floor. "Poor little birdy," I teased, "all alone with no one to help her." I stopped when she had her back against the open doorway. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear." My playful tone went down to a furious growl, "Move out of my way."

Her only answer was a silent head shake.

I shrugged. "Don't say that I didn't warn you." With a lightning fast motion, I grabbed Chica's jaw with my only hand. She twisted and shook her head desperately; but my grip was hard as steel. Forcing her roughly to look up into my eyes, I whispered "Now, you will learn to follow the rules and play along with me."

The yellow animatronic groaned and whimpered in pain as I started to slowly pull her lower jaw from her face, causing the metal to dent and stretch. An excited giggle escaped my throat when her soft cries turned into hopeless wails. "Look at the bright side" I laughed, "You won't have such a big mouth after this!"

"STOP!"

I raised my head in the direction of the unexpected human scream, and saw the guard standing in the desolate Game Area, a few feet behind Chica. His expression was scared as much as reproachful. Taking advantage of my distraction, the bird managed to turn her eyes at the human. "Jeremy, don't…" she croaked, shaking her head slowly. "Don't do this."

"Well, seems like our knight in shiny armor finally came to the rescue!" I scoffed, tossing Chica aside before taking big strides towards the terrified human. "How sweet."

The guard walked backwards slowly as I closed the distance between him and me. "Stop this Brandon." he begged, "You don't want to do this." His tired eyes glistered with unshed tears. "I know you remember me. You always used to come here and play with your friends after I gave you discounts! You loved the shows, and the arcades! Y-"

With a loud clatter, the panel covering an air vent above him fell down, and a metallic claw came out of it to dig itself into the collar of the guard's uniform. In less than a second, the man was hanging from his neck while the disfigured white fox above him looked at me proudly with her dead yellow eyes.

"He was _mine_ Mangle." I hissed angrily

The fox' confidence faded away. "Uh, I… I t-thought that…"

"That I wouldn't kill him?!" I demanded, ignoring the man that twisted and gagged uselessly as he suffocated. "Is that what you thought?!"

Shaking her head, she stuttered a nervous "N-No!"

"Good. I would be _very angry_ if you doubted me." I slowly walked up to the guard as he struggled to breathe, and mumbled coldly "Let him go. This is not the way we kill."

Mangle obeyed and dropped the human on the floor. The young man barely had time to take a few breaths before I walked up to him and grabbed him roughly by his wrists. "Tell my counterpart that to meet me in Parts and Service." I continued as my voice filled up with excitement, "And tell him to get the suit ready."

* * *

"I know you're there Brandon."

Once again, I let out an annoyed huff at the guard's pathetic pleas as I dragged him by his wrists across the pizzeria's dirty floor.

"I know you." he continued with a broken voice, making me more and more irritated. "You're a good, strong kid, just like your brother. You're strong enough to fight whatever is making you do this, I know it." He paused for a second or two as we approached the service room, then muttered with more despair "C'mon, don't tell me you forgot who you are? Your father was a police off-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I snapped, tightening my grip around his wrists until he let out a scream of pain, while I fought the temptation to crush his hands completely. We entered the room, where the eerie glowing eyes of Toy Bonnie and a slumped over, headless Freddy suit greeted us.

"It's time?" asked my overjoyed counterpart, light blue ears perked up in excitement.

I nodded, and replied happily "You don't know how excited I am for this." The Toy brought the empty animatronic suit to me as the guard tried to pull himself out of my grip, failing every time.

"Your father was a police officer, killed in a shootout with a criminal gang four years ago." resumed the man stubbornly, "It broke your heart, but you managed to overcome that with Sean, your mom and your friends. I'm…" His words turned into a painful groan as I squeezed his wrists to the point of almost breaking the bone, but he still continued in a weak hiss "I'm telling y-you this b-because, no matter what h-happens, you'll always b-be that brave little k-kid who never gave up."

"Shut up meatbag." I growled, knowing perfectly well he couldn't hear me. But I couldn't stand his words.

"You'll never s-stop being Brandon Williams to m-me."

"I said shut up."

"And you'll always be my f-family."

"SHUT UP!" I roared, hoisting the man into the air above the empty animatronic suit until his feet were dangling right above the neck opening. "YOUR FAMILY IS DEAD AND SOON YOU WILL BE TOO!" I let go of him and his right leg dropped into the suit up to his knee, while the other rested on the edge of the hollow neck. The guard managed to grab a hold of my chest plate before I rested my hand on his shoulder and started pushing him inside. Slowly, he sank further into the suit, grunting in pain as his leg was cut and crushed by the animatronic parts. When my counterpart started reaching out for the man, I ordered him to stay back with a snarl.

This was my kill.

Baring his teeth, the guard tugged at my chest until it swung open, while he slowly kept sinking into the suit. I was now pushing with all my strength, trying to get his whole body inside before he could try anything else. "I'm very sorry Brandon." he huffed, reaching deep in my chest with both hands as his left leg slipped off the suit's edge and fell into it.

"Stop it!" I grabbed one of his arms and pulled it out of me hastily when I realized what he was trying to do. But I only had one arm, and he had two.

Pushing himself up with his scratched legs, he thrust his other hand further into me until he found my battery. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't you dare..." Before I could swat away his arm a deep tiredness come over me when he disconnected my power cables. I stumbled back, releasing my grip on him before I tumbled to the ground. As my vision darkened, I caught a glimpse of him escaping the suit and crawling away from my counterpart towards an air vent. Then, with a bitter feeling of defeat and anger, I lost consciousness.

* * *

Two blurred shapes slowly appeared in front of me as I awoke from my deep slumber. As soon as it saw me, one of the figures left the other and went over to me in a slow walk. When I was more awake than asleep, I finally recognized his face.

"Can you hear me Brandon?" asked a worried Jeremy, "Are you alright?"

Seeing him alive and well filled me with relief as I nodded slowly. Meanwhile, Sarah walked up to us in a calm pace. I was about to press the play button to talk to Jeremy, when he held his opened hand at me in a 'Stop' gesture.

"Just talk." he said with a smug smile, "I already put a tape in your player."

"I need to press play before talking." I replied flatly, just as a soft whirring noise came from my side. With confusion I realized that it was my player. After two seconds of silence it stopped and rewound itself before parroting out my words through my voicebox.

"Surprise!" With an even wider smile and happiness in his tired eyes, Jeremy held up a little screwdriver. "I realized that it must be annoying to press all those buttons before talking to anyone, so I fixed you up a little bit. Now, you can talk out loud automatically as long as you have a tape inside of you."

"How?" I asked in excitement, before the words became audible for my cousin through my voicebox.

"The power of electrical engineering!" exclaimed Jeremy in a slow whisper of awe, looking up at the ceiling and tracing a little arc with his opened hand as if he was describing something magical.

"Doofus." snickered Sarah behind him as she shook her head. Moments after, her voicebox replayed her words automatically.

"A doofus that fixed you all up!" boasted Jeremy with a cocky smile, making Sarah and me chuckle more. It was after I was done laughing that I looked up at them attentively, and my happy mood shattered immediately.

Sarah's jaw was barely hanging from a side, twisted and dented in unsettling angle, while some of her yellow fur had been torn away by my rough grip. I slowly turned my head to inspect my cousin, and felt something cold go through me when I saw his scratched, oily and bruised hand that had disconnected my battery.

But that was nothing compared to his legs. Long, thin slashes covered most of the skin below his knees, clearly visible through the holes in the fabric of his pants, which had been darkened by his blood from purple to a near black. Some of the scrapes still hadn't dried, and most of the leg that wasn't cut was bruised.

I turned my face away from them in guilt and shame, before mumbling weakly "Why are you here?"

Sarah and Jeremy looked at each other in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Just look at what I did to you!" I cried out as I glared at their surprised faces, before an uneasy silence filled the room. Then, I turned my head away once more and whispered flatly "You… you can't be here with me, especially you Jeremy." My voice went to a near whimper as my ears drooped down. "I'm sorry. For everything."

My cousin stayed silent for a moment, before he knelt down in front of me and stretched his wounded hand for me to take. "There's nothing to forgive." he whispered softly with a smile, "It wasn't your fault. I know the leg looks bad, but it's no big deal."

I lowered my head from him as I let out a long sigh, and mumbled "I'm just scared that we will hurt you again."

"That won't happen." replied Jeremy calmly, "We will figure this out together, but you need to let me help you, alright?" He once again stretched out his hand to me with a hopeful smile, and after a few seconds I slowly wrapped my fingers around his, being careful not to press to hard.

"Thanks." I whispered, taken aback by his will to stay with us. He nodded purposefully.

"Just promise that you'll be careful Jeremy." pleaded Sarah behind us.

"Don't worry," he said with confidence, "I promise that nothing bad will happen."

"You should get some rest." she advised.

Jeremy chuckled. "Believe it or not, I'll sleep much better knowing that you're still here."

It was then that the door to the service room opened slowly, and Sean and Ferny crept into the room. "Hey guys," whispered the latter, "I think the coast is clear."

"Was that intentional Fer," began Sarah with a teasing voice, "or is the pirate speech finally getting to you?"

Ferny shrugged casually. "I just say what comes to me naturally."

"What happened brother?" I asked as he walked over to Jeremy and me.

"It's the Toys." he replied with a sigh, "Junior, Mini and TB took a few minutes more than us to fall asleep after 6 AM, but Mangle only lost consciousness a moment ago, almost an hour after the end of Jerry's shift. We couldn't get Jack out of the secret room because of that."

"You go do that…" called out Jeremy, before letting out a yawn and stretching his arms after the words came out of Sean's voicebox. "Meanwhile, I'll stay here and get some shuteye before the place opens up."

Nodding, I replied with an "Okay" before taking the tape out of my player and leaving the room with Ferny and my brother.

* * *

As the three of us walked down the Main Hall, there was a strange mood of both enthusiasm and worry at Jeremy's decision to stay. We stepped into the lonely Game Area when the morning sun was just beginning to light up the floor and tables, and went to the kitchen.

"I'm sure the Toys are still unconscious." said Ferny as we stepped inside, "Maybe since they spent more time taken over, they have to rest more afterwards."

"Maybe." replied my brother, "In any case, let's get Jack out of here before it gets even later."

We managed to push aside the kitchen shelf to uncover the hiding room of the only one who couldn't be taken over by evil, and found him slumped down against a wall with a hand over his lap and his gaze focused on the ceiling.

"Jack?" I called out, "Are you alright buddy?"

When he turned around to look at me, I knew immediately that something wasn't right. The pinpoints in his eyes that always glowed in a bright, clean white seemed to be dimmed slightly; their feeble light reminded me of the time when he couldn't walk.

"Hey." he croaked out in a weak yet cheery tone, "I'm f-fine, just a bit c-cold."

My brother, Ferny and I looked at each with worry, before I walked up to Jack and pulled him on his feet. He had taken a few slow steps towards the door when he suddenly fell down one of his knees, panting as he held both hands on the floor to avoid tumbling down. "And a b-bit tired." he added calmly.

He leaned heavily on me while I helped him get back up slowly, then wrapped his arm around my shoulder. The four of us started to walk back to parts and service in silence, and I noticed that his body felt colder to the touch than usual. On top of that, Jack never said what was wrong with him, while previously he had no problem telling if something wasn't right. Even so, I decided not to push him to answer me.

We were entering the Main Hall, about to return to parts and service, when I spotted the familiar figure of TB sitting in front of the door. He was holding his rose loosely between his light-blue hands, staring at it with melancholy, when he noticed us entering the hall.

"Hey Mr. Freddy, Mr. Bucky." greeted TB in a flat tone as he quickly put his flower inside his chest. My brother tipped his hat at him while Jack stayed silent. "Morning cap Foxy." Ferny returned his hello energetically. My counterpart finally focused his eyes on me, just to let them fall down as he began to rub his elbow nervously. "Hi Mr. Bonnie." he mumbled, still not looking up at me. "Umm, c-can I please ask you a question?"

"Uh, off course." I answered quickly, surprised by his sudden apparition.

"It's… kind of a big question." My counterpart rubbed his elbow faster, seemingly more and more uneasy.

"Go ahead."

He sighed. Then, looking at me in the eyes, asked eagerly "Who is Brandon?"

For several seconds a heavy silence took over the dimly lit hallway. A feeling of uneasiness grew inside of me while I tried to think of something, anything, to tell him. I looked at my brother and Ferny, but they were both rendered speechless by TB's question. Finally, I asked him in an unsure tone "How do you know?"

"The guard was calling you like that when we… when we almost… killed him." His voice trailed off for a moment. "Why was he calling you like that Mr. Bonnie? Who is Brandon?"

When I thought about telling him the truth the image of Marionette appeared in my mind. I didn't know what he would do if I told the Toys who we really are, and this trapped feeling made my anger towards the lanky puppet grow. TB deserved the truth, but at the same I wanted to keep him safe.

"I don't know." I mumbled flatly, "I really don't know."

My counterpart looked keenly at me, clearly not buying my answer. "Then why was he calling you like that?" he asked again.

"I don't know!" I shouted, making him take a step back from me in surprise. More seconds of tense silence followed, before I repeated in a bitter and regretful tone "I… I don't know who Brandon is." Turning my head away from him, I quickly dragged Jack and myself to the service room.

"Promise me." I heard him call out behind me, clearly trying to hold back a sob. "Promise me that you're not holding any secrets."

I stopped in front of the grey door of parts and service for a moment, and without looking at him, mumbled a reluctant "I promise."


	29. New friends

**A/N: **Well guys, here I am again after four weeks of inactivity. My new schedule leaves very little time for writing and sometimes unexpected stuff happens. To all of you who are still into this, I cannot thank you enough for being so patient with me. I'm sorry to make you wait again, but you can be certain that this story will go on, even though updates might come sporadically.

Speaking of the story, this chapter turned out to be unexpectedly long. Although it doesn't have many plot points, it will set the stage to something interesting that will happen on the next chap.

Also, happy Valentine's day to all you lovely couples. To the rest of you singles (including myself), happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 29: New friends**

"Here you go buddy." With growing concern, I handled an old tablecloth to Jack, who was sitting and shivering on the floor of parts and service.

"T-T-Thank y-you." he stuttered forcefully through chattering teeth, slowly putting the unfinished puzzle that was resting on his lap on the floor before taking the tablecloth from my hand.

"How do you feel?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"C-C-Cold." he confirmed, his teeth still clacking as he pulled the tablecloth over his legs like an improvised blanket, "V-Very cold."

Since we brought him out of the secret room, Jack was getting worse with each minute. His weakness and cold had grown to the point where he could barely stand or walk. Concerned, I went over to Ferny, who was looking at Jack with worried yellow eyes.

"What do you think?" I asked.

Sighing, he crossed his arms and tapped his foot thoughtfully, before mumbling after a few seconds "I don't know. It's almost like he caught a _really _bad cold, but it's kinda hard to get sick after you're dead." He let his gaze fall to the floor. "I wish I could help."

"Me too." I sighed, looking at the shivering Jack one more time before turning my gaze towards the other three figures talking in the crowded parts and service room.

"So, let me see if I understand." hummed Jeremy thoughtfully, before looking at the ceiling and putting a hand under his chin. The place had closed a few hours ago, and when it did he returned as fast as he could to see us. "Everyone of you has two blood seals. That includes the Toys, Marionette and Walther, right?"

"Right..." repeated Sean, stretching out the word.

"One is on your bodies, and the other is in the red book that Walther always carries with him, right?"

"Yeah..." chorused Sarah in the same tone as my brother.

"If the seals on your bodies get broken, you'll become those creepy Shadow things that attacked Brandon and Jack." continued my cousin, "And if the ones on the _book _break, you'll be erased and will stop existing here or anywhere else?" Saying the last word unsurely, he looked at Ferny with worry.

"Correct." replied the latter matter-of-factly.

"But if you don't do anything, your evil side that has tried to kill me will keep growing until..." Jeremy's voice went to a sad whisper as he looked down at the floor, "...until nothing remains of you." He looked at me with pained eyes; I nodded silently and slowly. "The only way to make sure that none of that happens is by breaking Walther's blood seal in the red book. He will be erased, and you..." He stopped abruptly, and I could see that he was trying hard to control his emotions.

After a few seconds of silence, Jeremy finished with a bitter tone "You will die. Again. You will leave this world, and we will never see each other again." With a defeated expression, he sat on the floor and leaned his back against a wall of the room. When he stretched his legs he revealed white bandages below his recently-bought purple pants. "I don't want to lose you again." he mumbled with sorrow, "I'm sure there must be another way out."

After a few seconds of heavy silence, Sean limped up to our cousin and sat down on the floor next to him. "It's better than the other two options." he sighed, "Maybe you're right, but if you're not, then moving on will be the best thing for us." My brother rested his big brown hand on Jeremy's downed shoulder, and he returned the gesture to Sean.

It was then that the grey door of the room creaked open ever so slightly, and two glowing green eyes stared timidly at us through the crack. "C-Can I come in?" asked TB nervously.

"Off course lad!" replied Ferny in a grave and warm chuckle, taking up the pirate accent immediately. My counterpart smiled sheepishly and entered the already-crammed room. His expression turned into one of worry as soon as he saw Jack slumped down on the floor, and he whispered "Are... are you feeling better now Mr. Bucky?"

Still shivering like he had all day, Jack lowered his head, shook it weakly and traced an X on the tiled floor. Seeing him do that only made my concern grow. TB then walked over to me slowly with his ears lowered and his hand on his elbow, and immediately I felt a sting of guilt when I remembered the way I talked to him this morning.

"Hey Mr. Bonnie." he started in a uneasy tone, not looking at me in the eyes. I was about to reply, but then he noticed the sitting Jeremy in the corner of the room. "Hi Mr. Fitzgerald!" he called out happily, waving his light blue hand at my cousin. The latter smiled and waved back at him as TB's cassette player repeated the greeting.

After making it through the night Jeremy decided to make his peace with the Toys, reminding them that it wasn't their fault and promising that he'll be alright. Although wary and nervous, the little children were still more than happy to make a new friend. While they talked, our cousin made sure not to mention that they too were humans. Eventually, after learning that they could speak to living people through cassette tapes, all five Toys allowed Jeremy to upgrade them just like he had done with us.

"Mr. Bonnie?" A small tug at my arm called my attention. TB was looking at me with a strange mixture of curiosity and nervousness.

"What's wrong little me?" I asked, bowing down to his height.

My counterpart shifted his gaze to the corner of the room, before he whispered sadly "Are you... mad at me?"

"What?" Seeing his broken expression only made my guilt grow when I understood what he meant. "N-No, off course not." I answered softly yet hastily, "I'm sorry for the way I replied to you this morning. It's wasn't your fault, it was mine. I'm the one who should be apologizing, not you." I ruffled his ears slowly, and a little chuckle escaped from his throat. "I'm sorry little me. We're okay, right?"

TB looked at me with happy, bright eyes and nodded. "We're okay." He smiled and handled me his rose. "Thanks for being such a good friend."

"Hey, I was about to say that!" I teased as I slowly took the plastic flower from his hand.

Then, for a second, I saw a little boy smiling warmly at me through the plastic eyes and metal body of that animatronic. "Do you want to play Pac-Man with me later?" he asked hopefully with perked-up ears.

I sighed. "Thanks, but I think it's better if I stay with Mr. Bucky for now. Is that okay?"

"Hmm… okay!" chirped TB, almost hopping out of the room as he waved at Jeremy and the rest of my friends.

After he closed the door I stood up silently and sat next to Jack, taking up the unfinished puzzle in my hand before offering it to him. "Do you still want to play?"

"N-No, t… t-thanks." he stuttered as he traced an X on the floor. Slowly and tiredly, he lifted his barely-glowing pinpoint eyes to look at me. "A-And… thanks f-f-for staying w-with me."

"No problem buddy." I relaxed my body against the wall next to him, and turned my head around just to see Sean, Sarah, Jeremy and Ferny looking at me with amusement. "What is it?"

My cousin stood up from his spot against the wall, took a few steps towards us and knelt down in front of me. Still smiling, he whispered "I'm proud of you Brandon."

"Umm, t-thanks." I stuttered with mild embarrassment as I scratched the back of my head.

"I mean it." continued Jeremy, his tone more serious but still gentle. "I still remember that before you met Fer and Sarah you were too shy to make friends, and you were always scared that no one would like you for who you are. But you've grown up, and I think it's great that you're giving those kids a friend they need." When he stopped for a moment, his eyes took a sadder tone. "I should've said that to you before. When you were... the old you."

He sighed bitterly. "After Walther did what he did, I realized I never told you that, well, I'm happy to be your family." Smiling feebly, he looked at the rest of my friends. "And I'm proud of you guys, _all _of you." The odd look that Jack was giving Jeremy did not go unnoticed by the latter. Chuckling, he added "Yes, you too Jack. I don't know you for that long, but I can tell you're a good kid. And if he was here, I'm sure your brother would feel very proud of you too."

A small smile formed itself on a shivering Jack's face as Jeremy laid down on the floor next to us. "This is my fifth and final night of the week guys." said the latter in a flat and almost bored tone, "Hopefully I'll convince Erik to move me over to the day shift; shouldn't be too much of a problem." Yawning, he rested his head on his folded hands as he stared up at the ceiling. "I'll have to come here in the morning for a birthday party, but it's no big deal."

"Please take care of yourself Jerry." begged my worried brother, "If this is your last night, we might become more dangerous than we've ever been before."

"And the Toys were still taken over for some time after 6 AM this morning." reminded Sarah.

"I won't forget guys." replied my cousin, before another deep yawn escaped his throat. Rubbing his eyes, he mumbled "Unlike you, I need to sleep quite often. So..." He rolled on his side and let out a smaller yawn. "I'll just..."

After a few seconds of silence Jeremy started to snore heartily and peacefully on the floor. Amused and surprised, we saw how he muttered something in his sleep.

"Poor doofus." lamented Sarah, "I didn't think he'd be so tired."

"I don't think he should push himself so hard." added Ferny, "What he's doing is inhuman."

"What do you mean?" I asked, "Holding us off from twelve to six and fighting for his life?"

"No, not that." answered my red friend sadly, "I meant going to college to study engineering."

A short-lived laugh rung through the room; even Jack couldn't hold back a small giggle. Sleep must be contagious, because a few minutes later I caught myself and my friends yawning and stretching our arms. At some point, with a few hours left before midnight, I must've fallen asleep for the first time in days.

* * *

Something cold next to me woke me up. As my vision focused I glanced around the dark and silent room, until the small digital clock below the security camera caught my eye: it was already 11:15 PM. Everyone else in the room, including Jeremy and Jack, were sound asleep. I stood up quietly and slowly, went over to my cousin and gently shook his shoulder.

"Wh... What?" he muttered as he looked around in all directions, clearly startled.

"Jeremy, you have to go, _now._" I urged.

After shaking his head to wake himself up, Jeremy answered with a decided nod when he checked the time. "And the rest?" he asked.

"I'll wake them up later, after I hide Jack in the secret room." I turned around to do exactly that, while my cousin stood up and walked towards the grey door. "And... Jeremy?" I called out when he was starting to turn the doorknob.

The young man turned around, before replying a whispered "Yes?"

"Please... _please _take care of yourself." I begged, surprised by how desperate I sounded.

After a short silence, Jeremy looked at me and smiled sadly. "You too." Then, he opened the door and left the room. I needed a few seconds to understand what he meant. My friends and I were also in danger, but in a very different way.

I knelt down in front of the unmoving and tattered golden figure in front of me. "Jack?" I whispered, "C'mon buddy, time to wake up."

There was no answer, and I realized with dread that the cold I was feeling earlier was coming from his body. "C'mon, just wake up sleepyhead." I shook his knee gently, but he didn't move or make a sound. "Jack? Can you hear me?" I tried again anxiously, "Jack?!" I rested my hand on his shoulder and shook it with more strength. "Wake up buddy!" Fear started to take the best of me as my voice began to quiver. "Hey! _Hey!_ Come now, please..." He remained as silent, still and cold as a corpse. Finally, I cried out "WAKE UP!"

Slowly raising his head to look at me, Jack finally answered with an incoherent groan. "You gave me a good scare buddy." I sighed in short-lived relief, as I realized that he was shivering and trembling intensely. My friend was awake, but he was far from well.

"I'm sorry, but we need to go." I whispered. Jack gave me a weak and silent nod as I grabbed his icy hand and pulled him up on both feet. Before he could stumble down, I managed to wrap my arm around his shoulder. He did the same to me and soon we were slowly walking and stumbling towards the door of parts and service, while I tried to ignore the freezing cold that his body was giving me. Seeing how difficult it was for him to keep standing, I asked "Do you want me to ask someone for help?"

"N-no." he croaked, his teeth still chattering. "J-J-Just you, p-please."

"Alright, just me." We made the rest of the way to the kitchen in darkness and silence. After a few minutes we were in front of the familiar kitchen shelf once more. I laid Jack down against a close wall and started to push the shelf aside, while my withered body creaked in protest. As soon as the opening in the wall was big enough, I grabbed Jack by his shoulder again, stepped inside with him, and sat on the floor in front of him as he did the same. He began to look down, seemingly trying to avoid my stare as he traced circles on the tiled floor.

"I know sometimes you don't like talking to people," I started in a soft voice, facing him, "but you have to tell me what's wrong with you."

Jack lowered his head more as he traced another circle in silence, ignoring me. With the way to the kitchen still open, there was just about enough light to see him shake his head.

"Listen to me buddy." I leaned closer to him, "Everyone is worried. My friends, the Toys, Jeremy, me… everyone_. _We want to help, just like we did when you couldn't walk. But you need to say what's wrong with you."

Once again, Jack shook his head and traced a circle on the floor.

"Please." I begged, trying to find his dim eyes, "Why can't you tell me? Whatever it is, I'm sure tha-"

"Leave." replied Jack, his voice as cold as his body. "Y-you're m-m-my f-friend, right?" Stunned by his interruption, I nodded sheepishly. "Then, y-you need t-t-to leave, close th-this room, and m-make sure I c-c-can't g-get out."

Baffled, I stared at him keenly. "And why would I do that to you?"

"B-Because I'm going t-to b-be bad!" he shouted, raising his head to glare at me with not-so-dim, glowing eyes. "I c-can see th-that, and I can s-see that I'm w-worse than a-any of you!" Still looking at me in the eyes, he paused for a moment, before lowering his head and whimpering "I'm s-sorry, j-just go. P-Please."

It took me a few seconds to understand what he meant, and when I did, I wished to be wrong.

"He's right Pizza Boy." said a nonchalant voice to my right; a voice I had grown to hate these past days. I slowly turned my head to see the thin figure of Marionette standing in front of the hole leading to the kitchen. "If you care for the life of your cousin, you should do as your friend says." There was no concern in his voice.

Jack glared at the puppet with the same distrust and spite as the day we faced Shadow Bonnie, and I finally realized that he saw his real nature before I did. "I'm not going to lock up my friend like some kind of monster." I growled.

Marionette raised his lanky shoulders as he leaned against the kitchen shelf. "I knew you'd say that Pizza Boy." he chuckled, "And I was hoping you would too. I didn't want to miss this moment."

Suddenly, Jack let out a short cry as his body slid down against the wall, panting painfully as he held a hand on his chest. I went over to him in panic as he rolled and twisted on the floor. "You said he couldn't be taken over!" I shouted at the puppet, more scared than angry, "That he was immune!"

"I said he was _resistant_." Irritated, Marionette spat out the last word slowly while I marched over to him with a clenched fist. "They're two very different th-" He was interrupted by a clumsy swing of my fist, but he stepped aside quickly into the secret room as Jack's body began to twitch.

"YOU DID THIS TO HIM, TO US!" I screamed, stepping back from the puppet just to charge at him with another swing of my fist that he dodged effortlessly.

"Yes, you could say that." replied Marionette calmly as my hand flew through the empty space where he had been a moment ago. "But as I said, it was a one-time thing." He stepped away from my fist once again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Jack was laying motionlessly on the floor. "What I did to your minds using my seal is irreversible; I can't stop it even if I wanted to." With a surprising amount of strength, the puppet caught my last strike in his opened, spindly hand. "I can see you're angry," he whispered mockingly, leaning his face close to mine before pushing me away, "while actually you should be thanking me for setting your real nature free. Speaking of which…" His voice took a dark and excited tone as he looked at the back of the room, "Your oh-so-sweet-and-innocent friend is starting to wake up!"

I turned around to see the golden figure stand up slowly and effortlessly with his back turned to us. He stood there, unmoving and silent, as I took some slow steps towards him. "Jack?" I called out feebly, "Are you alright buddy?"

"Shut up." hissed back the thing in front of me in an icy tone. He raised his opened right hand in a 'Stop' gesture, and immediately I felt my knees give out as my chest started to burn in an unnatural, indescribable pain. Unable to move, I saw how the shadowy silhouette in front of me turned around slowly, just to look at me with black, cold and hollow eyes.

"Who... who are you?" I croaked out forcefully, though I already knew the answer.

"Buck." he replied flatly, walking over to me in a slow and confident pace, before kneeling in front of me. "The kid tried to warn you, but you didn't listen." The thing spoke very slowly in a hoarse, breathy voice. I could tell that Jack's difficulty with speech was still there, but I couldn't stand to look into his dark and lifeless eyes. I lowered my head away from those black holes. "Look at me Bonnie." I disobeyed, and then Buck growled "I said look at me!"

I let out a little yelp as his freezing hand clamped itself on my jaw, and forced me look into his eyes. "You're useless." continued Buck in the same cold, emotionless voice. "You had four days to kill the guard, and you failed every time." He tilted his head at me curiously, before his mouth curved ever so slightly in a horrifying smile. "I'll make sure we win this time."

"Well said Bucky!" I heard Marionette cheer next to us, "With you on our side, there no way…" His happy voice cut off immediately as soon as the tattered golden bear raised his hand in the same way he had done a minute ago. He let me go, allowing me to lift my head and see him glaring at the puppet with that empty, terrifying stare.

"You're not better than him." he muttered angrily, pointing at the slender figure with his opened hand. For the first time since I met him, Marionette seemed genuinely scared. "You don't even _try _to kill_._" The puppet let out an ear-piercing shriek of pain as he went on his knees, his hand on his chest. "I should erase you." continued Buck, "I _want _to erase you."

"P-please, don't!" begged Marionette, "I gave you the…" he grunted in pain, "The chance t-to come out, remember?"

"Which means…" Once again, Buck tilted his head and grinned evilly, "that I don't need you anymore." The puppet only looked up at him in terror and agony, not daring to speak. "I'll take that as a yes." Buck unexpectedly lowered his hand, leaving Marionette panting of pain on the floor as he went back to me. "And you, my friend…" The sarcasm in his voice sickened me. "You will not fail, right?"

"I will not kill!" I hissed back, "And you won't either, Jack! You've fought this thing before, and you've always won! Please, don't lose this time!"

Buck stared at me silently, before whispering "You won't be so rude once I'm done with you. You see, I've won already."

Another unnatural wave of pain from my chest made me holler as the world around me blurred and blackened. The same darkness from previous nights crept into me with more strength than ever before, and I realized that if Jack could get rid of my evil side, Buck could awaken it.

"I'm sorry Jeremy." I moaned out weakly as my little resistance melted away, "I'm sorry." Unable to fight back, I gave up.

"So, let me ask you again." said a familiar voice calmly after a few seconds of silence. "You will not fail, right?"

"Right." I whispered decidedly as I came back to my senses. "I won't fail."


	30. A night to remember

**A/N: **Hello guys, welcome back to the fic. Once again, my apologies for the big delay between chapters. Believe it or not, I truly want to update as often as I can, but with the responsibilities of this new semester it's getting very difficult to find a good moment to write. Priorities are priorities, so I cannot guarantee that you won't have to wait as long for the next chapter.

In any case, to those who are still following: thanks for being here. Now, this chap will hopefully give you a few surprises or two. It was originally part of a bigger chapter, but I decided to split it since it was getting too long.

Also, there's a little announcement at the end regarding an idea I've had for quite a while. Without anything left to say: happy reading and happy Easter! And if you want, let me know how you liked this one ;)

* * *

**Chapter 30: A night to remember**

The best way to describe what I was feeling, is hunger. A powerful, dominating, blinding craving for something, anything, that will fill a gaping hole inside of you. It's not desire, it's need.

In my case, it was a need to kill the guard on his last night of the week.

But that hunger paled in comparison to whatever it was that came out of Buck's empty black eyes. The only time he had smiled was when he used his seal to make the others join our game. Their scared, high-pitched screams that filled the quiet nightly air as his power corrupted them were like music to our ears.

But as the night progressed, it became clear that our prey had gotten better at avoiding us. Even if we all entered his office constantly through both vents and the hall; even if we didn't give him a chance to breathe; even with Buck's ability to assault the guard with ghostly images if himself, the man put on his mask, flashed his light and kept us away.

When there was less than an hour remaining, Freddy and I stepped into the service room just to see Buck sitting on the floor, idly tracing circles on the checkered tiles as if nothing was happening.

"What are you doing?!" I growled at him, frustrated. "You said I couldn't do anything, and you're sitting here being useless! I should..."

A single glare from the golden bear's empty eye sockets left me without voice. "You're so impatient." he mumbled in his cold, slow and breathy voice. "I was thinking." Without standing up, he turned his whole body to face us, and asked "What can you remember that's not from your games?"

"You mean the memories of the kids?" replied Freddy. Buck nodded slowly. "Nothing." continued the brown bear, "It's like we're completely different people." He paused for a moment, before snarling "And it's better that way. I don't want to know anything about those pathetic brats."

"Without them, we couldn't exist." reminded Buck in an emotionless tone. "In time, they won't be a problem. But until then, we only have these hours." He paused, and I wondered why it felt like he had trouble speaking. "Because of my seal, I can remember a few things from the kid inside of me." His words awoke a spark of interest in Freddy and me. "Did you know that the guard is a relative of Bonnie's kid?"

"H-he is?" I stuttered, surprised. "What else can you remember?"

"The guard's name. Those are the only interesting things." answered Buck casually. He stood up, and facing Freddy, said to him "Tell everyone else to hide from the guard until he doesn't have his mask." The brown bear answered with a nod.

"And why would he let go of his mask?" I asked defiantly, "He's not an idiot."

Buck walked to me and put a freezing-cold paw on my shoulder. "He cares for you Bonnie. And that's why he will be dead soon." He let me go and walked to the door. "Come with me. Let's pay him a visit."

* * *

I approached the lit-up office slowly through the quiet party room hall, not bothering to hide myself from view. As soon as I was close to his room, the young man in purple quickly put on his mask, aimed his flashlight at my head, and fired a beam of blinding light.

"Jeremy! It's me!" I hissed as I turned my stripped head away from the light, covering it with my hand. "It's me, relax!"

"Brandon?!" blurted out the surprised man right after my cassette recorder repeated my words. Still shielding my face from the light, I nodded. After a second or two, Jeremy finally turned off his flashlight. "How are you back to normal? It's not 6 AM."

Shrugging, I replied "I'm not sure. I was talking to the others in parts and service, when suddenly everyone started to lose consciousness. I was the last one to fall asleep and the first one to wake up." As I stepped into his office, I remembered that he still had his mask on.

The young man only looked at me in silence. "You did it Jeremy!" I resumed joyfully, "Now that your mandatory week is over, you can get moved over to the dayshift!"

"Yeah," mumbled the masked guard, "it's over."

None of us said anything for a while. Strolling around the office casually, staring at a child's drawing on the left wall, I finally asked "Why don't you take off your mask?"

After a short silence, he replied flatly "What if someone is still taken over?"

Chuckling, I answered "Don't worry, no one is coming for you! You are safe and sound," I stared at him in the eyes, "I promise."

"Well, I'd rather not take any chances." countered the guard, taking a few steps back from me.

"C'mon Jeremy," I said innocently, "I just want to see your face."

The young man stared intensely at me. Then, he slowly raised his hand to his face and his mask; but he stopped suddenly. With his eyes still on me, he told me in a nonchalant tone "You know, I spoke with your dad last week."

"Fantastic!" I beamed, swallowing down my anger and frustration. "Did he mention me?"

"Yes." answered the guard harshly, "He was very surprised that you already forgot how he was killed over four years ago." Clutching the flashlight tightly in his hand, he glared furiously at me through the eyeholes of his mask. "You really think I don't know my own family?! How _dare _you use my little cousin's name?!"

A look of surprise took over the human's eyes as I started to snicker softly. Moments later, I was almost hollering with laughter; I leaned against a wall to avoid rolling on the floor. "Your little cousin's name?" I scoffed, finally getting my laughter under control, "You mean that brat that has been rotting for a year and a half?"

The young man's eyes now burned with rage as he clenched his fists. "He's still alive." he hissed through clenched teeth, "And you will never beat him."

Letting out a last short chuckle, I shook my head at his naivety. "It's a shame you won't live enough to see how wrong you are." Excitement coursed through me as I took big steps towards the man.

The human backed away from me quickly, towards the right side of the office. "You can't touch me if I have the mask!" he blurted out desperately as his back touched the corner of the room. At the same time, he rested his thumb on the flashlight's button.

"I _shouldn__'__t _touch you if you have the mask." I corrected with a low, decided voice, stopping right in front of him. "This time, I'll just do what Foxy has always done: ignore the rules."

He was about to turn on his flashlight and I was about to grab him by his throat to stop him, when we both froze in place to stare at the golden animatronic standing at the entrance to the office like a statue. "Bonnie…" he glared at me with his empty, black stare, and mumbled slowly "You are a terrible actor."

"Save it Buck." I growled, "With or without his mask, I'm going to kill him now."

"Jack?" gasped the night guard with a sliver of hope, "Are you there?"

With slow movements, the withered bear looked at the man, shook his head and stepped into the office. Without taking his eyes off him, Buck stated flatly "You won't have to break the rules Bonnie. Like I said before, his love for the kid inside of you will kill him." Confused and irritated, I glared at him as he took a few more steps towards us and rested his gaze on me. "I have a plan B. And yes, you're in it." He stopped walking when he was in the middle of the office, and raised his opened hand in my direction. "But luckily for us…" His mouth curved ever so slightly to form a dark, eager smile. "You won't have to act at all."

A scorching pain in my chest put me on my knees, and seconds later a strangled cry left my recorder. I felt like my seal was on fire, and it was burning away to nothing.

Slowly and painfully, I turned my head to Bucky, and groaned "Y-you're… you're erasing m-me."

The small grin on Buck's face grew into a full sadistic smile as he tilted his head slightly. "Yes I am." His voice trembled with pleasure. "How does it feel?"

With a roar of pure agony I fell flat on the ground. Panting and whimpering with pain, I glanced at the confused and worried guard.

"Good job Bonnie!" beamed an overjoyed Buck behind me, "Scream! Cry! Let him know what you're going through!"

"W…why?" I hissed, "W-we're… in the s-same… t-team…"

"Yes. And sometimes you have to take one for the team." was Buck's indifferent answer, "I don't have a recorder. Tell the guard to give me his mask, or I will erase you completely."

"Wh-what's going on?" stuttered the young man in a panicked voice, "What is he doing?"

With barely enough strength to speak, I faced the guard and croaked out slowly "Listen to me meatbag. Give him the mask, or there will be nothing left of me…" A short grunt of pain interrupted me. "And nothing left of your little cousin."

Under his mask, the fearful eyes of the human stared at Buck and me alternatively, while I felt myself fading away. Soon, the man in front of me was nothing more than a darkened purple blur, and the burning in my chest was melting away into a dull throbbing. Realizing that I would be erased by my own teammate, I let my head fall on the floor.

"Here!" The guard's shout brought me back to reality. As my vision came back to me, I raised my head to see the young man's sweat-covered and unmasked face, along with his stretched arm that was holding the Freddy headpiece. With a hardened expression, he looked at Buck, then at me, and for one second at the light switch on the wall in front of him. Though I couldn't move anything else than my head, I wheezed in relief when I realized that I wouldn't be erased.

"You see Bonnie?" started Buck indifferently, "He's all ours now."

I was too exhausted to feel anger as he slowly walked next to my thrown-down body, until his huge metal foot was next to my head. The man's face remained steely as Buck tilted his head and grinned at him with satisfaction. A moment later, a loud clatter was heard as the remaining eight animatronics came into the office, surrounding the cornered guard. Chica and Foxy glared hungrily at him from my left, my counterpart smiled darkly at my right, and Mangle opened her twisted jaw above me.

"It was fun." said Freddy flatly, raising his shoulders calmly as his recorder parroted his words, "But every game must end."

"Agreed." answered the guard with confidence, before holding up his mask and calling out energetically to Buck: "I guess you want this now." The golden bear nodded slowly; the man smiled a tiny smile and brought back his hand. "Then… catch it!"

With a flick of his wrist, the night guard threw the mask just over the golden bear's shoulders. Still unable to move my body, I saw how everyone turned their heads around to follow the flying headpiece, giving the man a precious second to take a big stride towards the piece of wall between him and me, stretch out his arm, and slam down the light switch with his hand. Everything and everyone was in total darkness when we heard the mask hitting the floor.

"This isn't your everyday doofus!" cackled Chica from somewhere in the dark, "This is a special kind of doofus!" A short laugh rung through the room as pairs of small colored lights appeared in the black space; they were the glowing eyes of my playmates. "We can see you clear as day now."

She was right. Our vision quickly adapted to the darkness, letting us see the figure of the man standing in the same place as before, but bathed in the dim colored lights from the animatronics' eyes.

"Good." stated the guard nonchalantly, grabbing his flashlight from his belt. "You see, a little birdy told me that a bright light can actually reset your systems. In other words: you will shut down for some minutes." He aimed his flashlight at us, and putting his thumb over its button, finished "And a light becomes _much _brighter once you're used to the dark."

Before anyone could stop the man, a blinding flash filled the room. My playmates hissed in anger and pain as they shielded their eyes against it, but it didn't take long before they began to fall on the floor's checkered tiles, one by one. Without physical eyes, I managed to stay conscious as Buck fell on his back next to me. Mangle quickly swung her way towards the opened vent at the opposite side of the room and crawled inside, away from the light, as the Toys fell on their knees before shutting down.

A minute had passed, and the floor of the office was littered with mechanical bodies. Wheezing, the man turned on the office's light and came by my side, right in front of Bucky's inert body. Raising my head, I rasped out: "Why?" The young guard looked at me with confusion. "Why did you risk your life for someone that's already dead?"

With a sigh, he went on his knees and looked down at me pitifully, something that only made my hate for him grow. "You wouldn't understand." he whispered softly, "You may be part of my cousin, but you're completely different from him." Smiling that stupid, irritating smile at me, he shrugged. "When you care for someone that's part of your family, you'll be willing to do some pretty stupid things. And that bond is someth-"

A huge golden hand shot itself at the man's neck, and squeezed it until his skin turned purple. With a dead-serious expression, Buck stood up and hoisted the squirming guard into the air. "You blind, stupid human." he muttered, shaking his heavy head, "I don't have eyes either." Like a fish out of the water, the young guard opened and closed his mouth erratically and uselessly to breathe. "Unfortunately for me, our time is almost over." continued the golden bear casually, "I can't play with you like I wanted to, so I'll just have to make this quick."

The man twisted and kicked hopelessly as Buck opened his wide, long mouth, revealing two rounds of blunt cartoonish teeth. A look of pure terror came over the guard's eyes as his head was brought closer and closer to the bear's awaiting jaws, ready to close down on his skull and end his life.

But they didn't. Buck's hand suddenly let go of the man's throat, and the human dropped to the ground. With his mouth still open and his hand still raised, the golden animatronic fell flat to a side as the office's alarm clock beeped monotonously. Immediately, the world darkened as I lost myself in a deep sleep.

It was 6:00 AM. The man had survived his five nights.

* * *

"Jeremy Fitzgerald, you actually made it."

That was Sarah's voice. I slowly woke up on the floor of the office with a throbbing pain in my head and a faint heat in my chest. As I sat up, my brother walked up to me, and without waiting for me to stretch out my arm, he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me on my feet.

"It's over private!" he cheered, shaking my shoulder as he looked at me with overjoyed blue eyes, "Jerry survived the week!"

"H-he did?" I mumbled, confused and half asleep, when the night's memories finally came back to me. "HE DID!" I pulled Sean into a tight hug with my only arm, and turned around to see Jeremy talking with Ferny and Sarah close to the entrance of the office. A warm feeling of relief flooded my body when my cousin turned around and smiled triumphantly at me.

"As always, the Toys need a bit more time to wake up." continued my brother, pointing at our counterparts that were laying motionlessly on the floor. "Mangle is still _somewhere _in the vents, but she's either asleep or trying to find her way to us, as herself."

I nodded absentmindedly, before I noticed the thrown-down golden animatronic close to the middle of the office. "And Jack is also asleep?"

Sean raised his shoulders. "Don, you saw how much power he has and how much he used. I'm guessing Jack is simply exhausted."

"Okay." I sighed, raising my gaze from my unconscious friend to my celebrating friends and cousin. Smiling happily, Jeremy ran to me and gave me another warm, familiar hug.

The embrace turned bittersweet when I remembered everything that he went through because of me. "Jeremy," I mumbled in a low voice, "everything I did, everything I said… I'm sorry."

"Don't blame yourself for that." he replied casually, letting go of me. "That's in the past. What matters is that we're together, right?"

"Right." I answered with determination, deciding to enjoy the moment.

"I have to be here for a birthday in the morning," continued Jeremy, "so I'll just stay and grab some shuteye before the place opens."

"And next week you'll be on the dayshift?" I asked eagerly.

Nodding, he replied "That's the idea." Jeremy turned around and went towards his desk, unfastened his flashlight from his belt, and laid it down next to the fan. Then, I remembered something.

"Jeremy, you were saying something before Buck tried to bite you." I told him, "Something about why you kept coming back, even if we're… not alive."

My cousin stared at the ceiling thoughtfully, then turned around and looked straight at me. "Yeah, I remember what you mean." He took a few seconds to remember, and said: "When you care for someone that's part of your family, you'll be willing to do some pretty stupid things." Looking at the floor, he let out a little chuckle. "And that bond is something that can never be broken, even if that person is gone. Dead or alive, we'll always be family."

"Always?" I questioned unsurely.

Jeremy raised his head and smiled. "Always."

* * *

**A/N: **Always is a big word.

Now, the project. To give all these characters a bit more depth, I decided to do a separate fic about their lives before the beginning of this story. This new fic, _Before they were lost_, will give us a bit more insight on who the five main kids actually are. Besides them, expect some similar background stories for Marionette, the Toys, Jeremy, and another someone who will appear in this fic eventually. The first chapter is actually done, and hopefully I'll put it up on Friday. If you want, you're more than welcome to check it out :)


	31. Four seconds

**A/N: **Happy Friday guys, and welcome back. First of all, thanks for taking the time to check out this chapter after so long. I'm sure you're tired of hearing this by now, but here it is again: I'm very sorry of the massive delays, and thanks for putting up with them. Living on your own and going to college kinda doesn't leave a lot of time for writing, but this story is going strong in my mind, and I will not give up on it.

Quite the opposite in fact: I'm done with classes, so expect more frequent updates. I will not promise that I'll put up chapters every week like I used to, but I'll try ;)

Without taking more of your time, I present to you what has been the most thought-of, revised and re-revised chapter so far. Why? Well, you'll see...

To you who are still here: thank you so much for your patience, and I'll see you all next week... hopefully. And now, happy reading! (I _really_ missed saying that!)

* * *

**Chapter 31: Four seconds**

When a day begins, there is absolutely no way to know how it will turn out. The most memorable of days start out in pretty much the same way as the most forgettable ones. What makes a certain day burn its mark into your mind usually happens after those initial moments.

Thursday, November 12th 1987 was no exception.

* * *

"Good morning!" sang Jeremy as he opened the door to the service room, before stepping into it with big steps and inspecting us with beaming eyes. TB, Junior, Mini and Balloons were leaned against a corner, power cables connected solidly to their back panels as they slept happily, while Sean, Ferny, Sarah and me stared back at my cousin in amusement from the opposite wall. Jack, who was still in a deep sleep by my side, let out a tiny, well-timed groan as Jeremy waved a little piece of paper in front of us.

"Payday?" asked Ferny in a teasing voice, making it clear to everyone that he knew the obvious answer.

"Yup!" chirped Jeremy, "I love the smell of minimum wage in the morning. This is why you kids go to college!" The start of a laugh was beginning to write itself on his face, then it disappeared when he realized his mistake. We remained silent as he looked down at the checkered floor, swallowing awkwardly as he mumbled "Sorry, it slipped out of my mouth. I... I forgot that you... can't exactly go to school."

"That's okay." reassured Sarah calmly, before looking at my brother with mischievous purple eyes and adding casually "Sean was always skipping classes anyways."

"He was?!" A bewildered Jeremy stared at my brother with angry expectation.

"Traitor!" growled Sean, leering at Sarah with electric blue eyes while she, Fer and I failed to conceal our laughter. It was then that a short childish yawn made us turn our heads to see TB stretching his arms and ears, his eyelids shut tightly as he let out a sleepy groan next to the other three Toys.

"Wh-what?" My counterpart looked around the service room in confusion, then his green eyes flashed with realization and alert as he stared at me with worry. "Mr. Bonnie, what happened last night?!" he demanded with a panicked voice, "Is Mr. Jeremy alright?!"

Without saying a word I pointed at my cousin standing by the doorway, who waved casually at the embarrassed light-blue animatronic.

"Oh... Hi Mr. Jeremy!" squeaked out TB, rubbing his elbow awkwardly, "Glad to see you're okay. Uh, how late is it?"

The young man dressed in purple threw a quick glance at his watch, then looked back at my counterpart and answered casually "Half seven, so the place is about to open. You guys should probably go to your spots: you have a birthday today!"

"Really?!" All sleepiness seemed to instantly leave my counterpart as he sprang up on two feet, ears high up in joy. "Junior, Mini, Balloons, wake up! We have a birthday today!"

The other Toys groaned in perfect unison as TB shook their shoulders hastily, and to their great displeasure, he didn't stop until they reluctantly opened their bright and colorful eyes. "What do you want Bugs Bunny?" grunted Balloons, standing up with his companions.

My counterpart only pointed at Jeremy, who in turn tapped his wristwatch and smiled condescendingly at the trio. Shrugging, he said "It's show time guys. If you're not on the stage by the time Erik comes, he will make me wish I was stuffed in a suit."

Balloons, Junior and Mini smiled in relief when they saw that their newest friend was alive and well, and soon the four Toys were walking out of the service room, waving at us. Without any warning TB, who was the last in the row of four, turned around quickly and hopped by my side. "Mr. Bonnie, why hasn't Mangle come back yet?" he asked weakly, holding his elbow in nervousness.

"I'm sure she's alright." was my calm answer, "She went into the vents when Jeremy shut us off, so she's probably still there." Seeing that my counterpart let his unsure gaze fall to the floor, I asked "Are you worried about her?"

"A little." answered TB with a shy little nod, avoiding our stares.

"Don't ye worry lad," added Ferny, taking up his pirate persona effortlessly, "If the lass can handle all the wee lil' ones every day, I bet'ya she'll do fine on her own fer a while." TB sighed, closed his eyes, and nodded.

"Just enjoy your party." continued Sarah with a breezy tone, not quite managing to smile with her broken jaw.

Staring into the bright green eyes of my counterpart, I told him "Take care little me. See you later."

TB opened his chest, pulling out his beloved plastic rose. As he handled it to me, he replied "Take care Mr. Bonnie." He then walked out the door, followed closely by my cousin.

* * *

It was almost midday. The air was filled with loud and happy childish voices; even from our little secluded corner, it was quite obvious that the pizzeria was packed to full capacity, perhaps even more.

"It's funny." I chuckled with clear irony, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between us, "Do they even remember what happened to us on my birthday? Or the murder of the kids that became the Toys?"

Sarah sighed, and whispered "You can't expect the whole world to cry over us forever Brandon. But we have our families to remember us." A sting of guilt went through me as she stared at Ferny, my brother and me, ignorant to the secret I was keeping from all of them.

"Private, these kids have the right to be happy, to enjoy their lives." continued Sean, "Don't forget what we said the very first day. No matter what happens…"

"We will never let this change who we are…" I chorused mechanically, turning my head to see the unconscious body of Jack. Sighing, I finished "And what we are to each other."

Then, the grey door of the room swung open almost violently. Remaining completely still, we stared at the silhouettes of Erik, Fritz, Dave and Jeremy standing in line at the doorway. Taking advantage that he was the last in the row, my cousin smiled and winked at me discretely, while I resisted the urge to greet him and blow our disguise for the three other employees.

"That damn fox isn't here either." muttered the irritated manager in his formal white shirt after scanning the room quickly.

"Should I get the remote Erik? Then we can bring her to us." suggested Fritz timidly.

"She's probably in free-roam, so I'll stay here in case she comes." added Jeremy in a confident tone.

Erik answered with a nod, turning around and tapping Dave's shoulder, gesturing him to follow. Soon, the three men that were not my cousin were walking down the hallway, while Jeremy stepped into the middle of the room. He sat down on the floor with a long, tired wheeze.

"It's been a long morning guys." he mumbled as he laid himself down on the checkered tiles. "By the way, your little friends are doing a great job keeping the kids happy. Those three poor fools think it's because of their programming." Chuckling to himself, he shook his head and stared up at the blank ceiling. "To be fair, I'd probably think the same thing if I hadn't met you again."

"Don't worry Jerry, you're almost done." comforted Sean.

"True, true…" The young man raised his head to look at my brother. "Not like I have a choice anyways; Mom and Dad would _not _be happy if I don't see Saturday Night Live with them." We all chuckled at his running gag, before sharing a few seconds of pleasant quietness.

Jeremy eventually stood up with a sigh, stretching his arms over his head before walking to the door. "I'll see you later guys." he promised. "Stay here, and if Mangle comes back tell her to wait for me." We nodded diligently as he opened the door, just as Dave was about to come into the room. The two proceeded to greet each other with a smile like long time colleagues and chat casually by the doorframe. I would've listened to their words, if not for a banging noise coming from the service room's air vent between Sarah and me. The constant medley of childish voices masked the sound of a disfigured white fox slowly opening the panel of the vent with a twisted arm.

"Hey Mangle." whispered Sarah, low enough for Ferny, Sean, Jeremy and Dave to not hear her words parroted by the cassette recorder, "Keep still. Jeremy is talking to someone."

"The guard?" she asked back in a flat tone, not looking at any of us as she dragged her body into the room. Sarah nodded. "No problem." As the white animatronic said this, she climbed unto the ceiling on top of me. By now, my brother and Ferny noticed her, but they only made slight hand gestures for her to get down, surely afraid of being heard or seen by Dave. Luckily, the head guard was looking away from the inside of the room.

I raised my head slowly to the hanging figure above me, and whispered anxiously and nervously "Mangle, what are you doing?"

She slowly turned her neck to face me; rows of sharp metallic teeth curved ever so slightly into a proud grin. "I'm about to win this game for us." she whispered coldly and slowly, "Aren't you happy?"

"What do you m-" My voice cut off as she stared at me with dead and frigid yellow eyes. They weren't the warmly glowing eyes of a shy girl; they were still possessed by the empty gaze of a single-minded killer. A killer that was beginning to swing herself to the doorframe.

I remember the following four seconds like a badly-edited montage of images: a fast-paced flash of different pictures without sound where so much is happening, and everything that is not in the middle of the frame is a blurry, hazy mess.

Everything goes mute at the beginning of the first second. My eyes meet Sarah's, and she looks back at me with fear when she comes to the same conclusion I made. In the hazy corner of the picture Sean and Fer seem to be staring at Mangle, still not knowing what's happening, while two frozen purple blurs by the doorframe are still facing another, ignorant to what's going on.

I begin to stand up as the first second ends and the next one begins, and realize that Mangle is already just outside my grasp; she's currently right above Sarah, who is starting to stand up as the white fox zooms above her. Instinct takes over me and for one instant of this second, I don't mind letting the whole world know what we are as long it can stop what's about to happen. With all my might, I scream my cousin's name, and by the time I'm done the third second is about to begin.

But my cassette recorder needs time to rewind and make my voice audible to Jeremy. It's now the third second and Sarah is standing up in front of me, but I can still see that Mangle is three-quarters down the path to the door; she was never so fast. Ferny and my brother must've realized what was about to happen, but the borders of the picture get darker and hazier with all my attention focused on Mangle on the ceiling, and Jeremy with Dave by the door. Three and a half seconds had passed when the voicebox inside of me wails out the name of the only living friend I have left.

The third second is almost over when the voicebox finishes the last vowel. As Mangle stops a few feet behind the doorframe and opens her jaws full of glistering canine teeth, she lets her head and torso swing toward my cousin. The two men in purple uniforms slowly turn their heads towards me when my scream reaches them: Jeremy first, then Dave. The fourth second is about to begin when my cousin's eyes meet mine for the shortest of moments, then his entire face is suddenly covered by Mangle's gaping mouth.

My body becomes cold as ice when the jaws of the white fox close down on Jeremy's forehead. When the fourth second arrives, so does that gut-wrenching, sickening sound. At first, it was the rough and crisp crack of a shattering skull. Think of an egg that breaks, or a soda cracker that's split in two. It then turned into a lower, more liquid and dirty noise, like a boot that gets stuck in the mud or a wet sponge that's squeezed above the drain.

Or a frontal lobe that gets crushed by two metallic jaws.

Jeremy's body twitched for just a moment before going completely limp; his arms hung from his shoulders like dead weights, and the only thing keeping him on two feet was his head lodged inside Mangle's mouth. She slowly opened her red-tainted jaws, allowing my cousin's body to freefall to the floor; his whole forehead was now a dark crimson stain that ran down over his eyes, nose, mouth, and neck, until it dyed the collar of his purple shirt to near black. As Jeremy hit the floor with a short and dry thud, Dave threw an incredulous glance at me before running away from the room, down the hallway towards the birthday party.

Mangle, still out of herself, stayed above my cousin's body for a second or two, admiring her handiwork with furious pride in her lifeless eyes; but then this glow flickered off for just a moment, and it was replaced by that innocent stare of a little girl. Horror and disgust instantly took hold of her gaze when she realized what happened, and not one second later her eyes shut off completely, right before her body fell down next to an unmoving and blood-drenched Jeremy.

My brother and Ferny stood up instantly from their corner of the room and rushed next to the body, blue and yellow eyes beaming with anguish and terror. Meanwhile, Sarah shook her head in hopeless denial and I sank to my knees as our minds began to fully understand what we had seen. Sean was shaking Jeremy's shoulders roughly, yelling out his name, while Fer inspected the crushed forehead with horror.

My cousin had survived five nights, thirty hours, with ten of us. But all that was needed were four seconds and a bit of carelessness. Some time would pass, but eventually these four seconds got a catchy, infamous name: The bite of '87.

* * *

"Jerry!" Sean cried our relative's name one more time as he shook his shoulder anxiously, "C'mon J-Jerry, please! P-please… just move d-dammit!" My brother's movements became slower and weaker with each moment, and so did his voice. "Just m-move Jerry… don't g-go … please. W-we can't lose y-you as well, please." He shook the young man's shoulder one last time, before whimpering out "Please… p-please…"

I was still on my knees, trying to grasp what just happened, when I got that familiar sensation once again: the feeling that everything was just a nightmare, that this was simply too horrible for real life, and that I'd wake up in my bed, hug Mom, and go to school with my brother.

But I haven't woken up yet.

Numbed by what happened, I barely registered that Dave was at the doorframe once again. He clutched the remote control from the previous location tightly in his hand as he glared at Ferny and Sean, then Sarah and me with confusion and anger. "You're supposed to be off." he hissed, shaking his head. "What _are_ you?"

Not bothering to wait for an answer, he laid his thumbs on the controls of the remote, and soon my brother and Ferny took some poorly-coordinated steps away from the bleeding Jeremy until they were against the nearest wall, before sliding down to the floor. It was then that Erik and Fritz speed-walked into the room; the young technician had another remote in his hand.

"Jesus Christ..." gasped Erik at the sight of the bloody body, "The… the fox did this?" Dave answered with a solemn nod and Fritz' mouth dropped open at the morbid display.

As the manager and technician tried to process their shock, the head guard went on his knees besides Jeremy's body. "He was twenty-four." mumbled Dave in disbelief, but everyone in the room went completely quiet as my cousin let out a weak, painful groan. The baffled guard then put his palm on Jeremy's forehead, applying pressure as he shouted "He's still alive! Call an ambulance Erik! Fritz, get all the costumers out of here, _now_!"

Startled awake from his trance, Fritz nodded with uncertainty as he ran away from the room, in the same direction as Dave had a moment ago: towards the celebrating children and the unsuspecting Toys.

Erik stood still for a second, then he slowly unclipped the brick-like white device from his belt with a serious expression on his face. He held the mobile phone in his hand for one second, seemingly unsure of what to do, before stating matter-of-factly "We're close to the hospital. If I call 911 now, the ambulance will arrive before the clients leave."

"So?!" questioned Dave anxiously, uselessly wiping his blood-soaked hand on his shirt before laying it on Jeremy's forehead once again.

"This will ruin us." hissed the manager through clench teeth, "It'll kill the business."

"Kill the business?" repeated the head guard in a dry tone as he faced his superior with a deadly glare, "Kill the business?! Fitzgerald is dying you bastard!"

Both men shared an expression of surprise after Dave said these words, but the head guard turned around quickly, allowing us to see that same furious expression he had a moment ago. Erik then turned his back to his two employees and us, dialed the number on the impractical device, and with a tone that seemed to lack life or emotion, made the call.

* * *

When the paramedics hoisted an unconscious Jeremy on the plastic stretcher and carried him away into the hall, Dave and Erik stayed in the service room without saying a single word. After the medics questioned the manager, he only replied: "It was a malfunction. We're not sure what happened"

A few seconds later, we heard the screams. The same children that were laughing in joy only minutes ago were now shrieking and crying at the sight of the bloody body. If seemed like that painful chorus of wails would never end.

But when it finally did, a chilling silence settled over the building; the calm after the storm. Erik and Dave were still in the room, still quiet, still not looking at each other. In all that time we didn't move or speak. We had become silent and useless spectators of a morbid public display, and this feeling of powerlessness only made the anger and pain inside me grow. With these dark thoughts racing through my mind, I let my gaze fall on an unconscious Mangle. She was still sprawled on the floor, her maw and teeth now dark red from the drying blood, when we heard light footsteps approaching. Fritz stepped inside quietly with a lowered head, avoiding the gaze of his coworkers.

"Is everyone gone?" asked Erik in a low tone, ending the solemn silence abruptly.

"All the other employees are out." affirmed Fritz dryly.

The manager nodded slowly, before stating flatly "First of all, this place _will _be shut down. God knows for how long, God knows if we will ever open again, but for now it is over." He let a few seconds pass to let his words sink in, then turned to Dave and told him "You were right when you said that they shouldn't walk around freely and interact with kids."

"This didn't happen because of that." replied the head guard without pride or sympathy.

Erik let out a small sigh and shook his head. "What the hell was she doing in the vents Dave? What did the kid that came before Fitzgerald see?" The manager stared at us with a broken expression, before looking down at Mangle. "You were right. All this programming and interaction with the kids is unsafe, it always was. If we ever reopen, we'll use these older models." Once again, Erik looked at our group with hopeless eyes.

"What will we do with the new versions?" asked Dave after a while.

Erik pulled out the silver box of cigarettes from his shirt's pocket, opened it, and put one in his mouth while he listened to his employee's question. As soon as Dave had finished, Erik took a deep sigh, holding the cigarette with the corner of his lips. "You mean the… what nickname did the maker give them?"

"The Toys." chimed in Fritz with a small voice.

"The Toys…" repeated the manager thoughtfully. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, opened them, raised his unlit lighter to the tip of the cigarette, and answered matter-of-factly "As we said, they're too unsafe." For a second there was an orange flame, then a puff of smoke. "They're all going to the trash. Balloon Boy and the fox first, then we'll get rid of the other three."


	32. Hate and friendship

**A/N:** Welcome back guys, thanks for waiting me out again. Now, I wanted to start by giving a warm welcome to two new readers that I spoke with these past weeks, one of them the writer of a fic I'm currently enjoying. So... welcome and thanks for reading! Same thing goes to all new anonymous readers.

Now, this chap is a big change from the more action-driven ones that were the last two or three. I enjoyed myself writing what's essentially a nice long one-on-one dialogue and some good old-fashioned inner conflicts; things I haven't done in a while. Though this one won't advance the plot so much, it paves the way for the next two, where I can promise you that a lot will happen in very little time. Tape 2 is almost over.

As always, I invite you to let me know how you liked this one. If you see any errors or if you think I can improve on something please let me know. And as always, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 32: Hate and friendship**

I think that the best word to describe what we felt that night, when the five of us were sitting together in the dark and silent Party Room 3, is desolation. Ferny and Sarah were leaning against each other in a corner; the usually striking color of their eyes had died out until they looked like shades of grey. My brother was right in front of me, his mournful blue eyes locked on the tiles of the floor next to him, clearly hiding from our stares. Not like that would be an issue. After all, a sad silence had taken over the gloomy space hours ago, and it still hadn't left. No one talked or moved, except one person.

Right next to me Jack was slowly tracing another circle on the floor, not raising his stare for one instant. Suddenly, he stopped and looked up at me with a curious expression. Breaking the hours-long silence, he asked me weakly and slowly "Are… are y-you okay?"

"What do you think?!" I snapped, glaring at a startled Jack, "Do you think I'm okay?!" Slightly scared, he shook his head rapidly. Guilt replaced my anger after a few seconds and I turned my head down in shame. Without looking at him, I mumbled "I'm sorry buddy. I… I'm just not okay right now. No one is."

He remained quiet for a few seconds, staring down at the floor, before asking "Are you… a-angry?"

I sighed. "Yes. I'm very sad, but I'm also a bit angry. I can't help it."

More silent seconds passed, then Jack lowered his head even more. "A-are you mad at m-me?" he questioned, sounding more like a whimper. I turned my head to look at him in surprise, before he cried softly "D-do you h-hate me n-now?"

Taken aback, I shuffled myself closer to him. "No, off course I don't hate you. Why do you say that?"

Jack covered his face with his stained golden hands as his shoulders trembled slightly. "I w-was so b-bad and mean l-last night." he sobbed, "I almost d-did something really… really b-bad to y-you and I a-almost… k-k-killed your cousin. I h-hurt you!" When I tried to interrupt he simply carried on. "I w-was so much worse t-than any of you! Th-then, your c-cousin got hurt s-so bad and I d-d-didn't do anything. I'm sorry… I'm s-sorry… I'm sorry…" He kept repeating this as he shook his head and sobbed quietly, his hands still covering his face. When I tried to put my hand on his shoulder, he flinched away from me, still repeating those two words.

"Listen to me buddy," I whispered, trying to get his attention, "it was not your fault. If he was here…" I swallowed hard, balling my fist to avoid breaking down. Sighing, I continued in a trembling voice "If he was here, Jeremy would say the same thing. Just don't cry, okay?"

Calming down ever so slightly, but with a body that still trembled a bit, Jack uncovered his face and looked at me for a moment, before staring down again and nodding weakly. "O-okay."

"Better?"

"B-better." He looked up at me with clear, glowing eyes. "Th-thank you."

We stayed side by side in silence for a few more minutes as Jack's crying gradually faded away. When that happened, I looked in front of me to see Sean giving me a small thumbs-up, blue eyes shining proudly. It was then that I just couldn't hold it anymore. I stood up hastily, feeling how four pairs of surprised eyes followed me as I walked to the door. "What's happening Don?" asked my worried brother.

"Nothing, just… I'll be back in a minute." I answered in a rushed voice, opening the door in a hurry and stepping into the dark hallway. As soon as I had closed the door I sat down on the floor against the nearest wall and simply broke down. All my pain, anger, guilt and misery tore through me as I wept pathetically on the floor, unable to shed tears. Even though my friends were right next door I felt completely alone; isolated from them by the secrets I was keeping, and that I couldn't bring myself to reveal.

I don't know much time I spent there, curled up against the wall, my head hidden behind my lonely arm that rested on top of my folded knees. Eventually my violent crying died out just to be replaced by a heavy, lingering sorrow. I raised my head from my arm and stared blankly at the grey wall in front of me, my mind overflowing and empty at the same time.

"It's a quiet night, isn't it?" chimed a juvenile voice from my right without malice or empathy. "I spent many nights like these before meeting you guys."

I didn't need to see him to know who he was. "What do you want puppet?" I mumbled in a low, broken voice. "I'm not in the mood to fight."

Without turning my head I barely registered that Marionette sat down by my side. "Neither am I Pizza Boy." he replied calmly, "I just wanna talk."

"I don't."

He let out a dry chuckle. "Seems like I have to take the initiative then." Marionette paused for a few seconds, before saying "Believe it or not, I know how you're feeling right now. To feel like you're about to lose it all and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Don't lie to me again." I interrupted angrily, "You hate me, I hate you, let's leave it like that."

He sighed. "Off course, I'm not trying to deny that. I just want to give you some… tips."

"Tips?" I scoffed, "You don't know…"

"Oh, I know exactly what you're going through." interrupted Marionette, "You're like an open book to me, remember? In a certain way, I know you better than your friends: you can't hide any secrets from me. Now, _you _don't know what _I _went through before becoming what I am. Those feelings of abandon, isolation, depression, whatever it is that you're feeling… they don't compare with the things I felt."

I swallowed down the annoyance I felt at this reply, and repeated "I don't wanna talk."

"Then don't talk, just listen." He paused for a moment, and I turned my head to see he was looking attentively at me. "You're sad and you're angry, but now that I'm here you're more angry than sad." Again, a few silent seconds passed, and I started to wonder with irritation where he was going. "That's your problem Pizza Boy. So far you've only managed to get rid of sadness by crying. You lay down, you let that sadness take over you, and you bawl your heart out."

"So?" I huffed bitterly.

"So, here's my tip: if you want to feel better, release that anger." I stared back at him, puzzled, as he whispered slowly "Don't hold it back Brandon. Just let it take over you."

I turned my head away from him and stared back at the grey wall in front of us, when a fire started burning inside of me. Suddenly, the words from the one I hated sounded extremely tempting. It was then that I felt a spindly hand lay itself on my right shoulder. "It's okay to be angry." cooed its owner.

The fire that I felt before instantly spread throughout all of me, and with it came that blinding feeling of fury and hate. My hand tightened itself into a fist and I felt my body trembling with wrath. My own wrath.

"What now?" I growled, facing Marionette.

His smile seemed to grow just a bit more. "Now, think for one moment and tell me why you feel like this. Who is to blame?"

A single image appeared on my mind: a disfigured white fox attacking my cousin. "She… she did this." I hissed furiously, feeling like everything was clear now. "Mangle did this. It's all her fault."

"Very good Brandon." said Marionette proudly, "Now, you have to release that anger." He tightened his grip on my shoulder one last time, before letting go and whispering "Destroy her."

As if in a trance I stood up slowly and silently, my fingers twitching in anticipation. "She's in Parts and Service." added the puppet, "Go ahead, make justice."

I started to walk away from the Party Rooms to the Main Hall with slow, determined steps. Not once did I stop to think what I was doing, not once did I stop to clear my mind from that blinding anger. I was seeing red.

"She did this." I growled to myself as I approached the Main Hall. "She did this to us." Stepping into the hall, I turned around to see the door of Parts and Service. "I want to…" Suddenly, a sensation of doubt crept into me. My fist started to unclench as reality slowly flowed back into my mind.

"You want to destroy her." commanded a voice behind me, "Tear her apart even more. Make her feel the pain you're going through, the pain Jeremy is going through." Marionette's voice became passionate and hateful. "Then, when you've had your fun, you'll find her blood seal and break it. Her soul will rot here forever, until she's a Shadow. Go on Brandon, turn her into the darkness and pain that she gave all of you."

Like a switch that went from off to on, a renewed sense of hatred entered my mind. The mechanical whirring and wheezing of my body were the only sounds to be heard in the dark corridor as I walked toward the grey door and opened it slowly.

The red glow of my backlights bathed Mangle's body, curled up in the small open space between shelves, unmoving. Seeing her sleep peacefully after what she did made me growl in anger as I took a step towards her. When I was about to take the second step, I heard soft whimpers and moans coming from her body; she was crying.

For one second I hesitated again, then I heard that tantalizing command inside my head once more: "Destroy her."

I took another step to do exactly that, when the white fox suddenly raised her head and stared at me with heart-broken yellow eyes. "M-mister Bonnie?" she croaked out feebly, "Why… why a-are you here?"

"You did this." I whispered spitefully, my only hand clamped into a quivering fist as I took another step. "You did this to us."

A flash of fear appeared in her eyes. "I'm s-so sorry…" she cried out, afraid and pained, "I'm so s-sorry mister B-Bonnie. I n-never wanted t-to do this… I l-liked his as well…" Her words got lost in fearful whimpers when she began to shuffle herself away from me. "I know y-you're angry…"

"Yes, I am angry." I replied with a poisonous tone, "I am sad. But I will feel better soon." I took another step that echoed in the small dark room. "_Everything _will be better soon." Crying, Mangle pushed her disfigured body further back. "Everything will be better after you're gone, and no one will know it was me." With one last step, I cornered her against the grey walls of the back of the room; terrified yellow eyes reflected my wrathful red lights. "No one will know it was me that destroyed you."

When Mangle tried to hook an arm to the wall and climb away I quickly grabbed her smaller endoskeleton head, pulling her down and pinning her against the floor as she yelped in pain. With fading yellow eyes she stared directly at me, and with a tone that lacked shyness or fear, stated sadly "I thought we were friends."

I pulled back my fist, about to strike a first blow, when my blinded mind finally registered those words. With my arm frozen in mid-air, I remembered the moments of happiness I shared with her and the Toys before opening up, and the mornings of sadness that brought us closer after the opening. She was always there; perhaps not close, perhaps a bit shy, but she was with us.

"She's toying with you." taunted that voice in my head, "Don't listen to her. Listen to me."

"You and cap Foxy repaired me that afternoon, remember?" continued Mangle feebly, "He said we're supposed to help each other, and you did." A sad smile appeared on her blood-stained face. "You all helped me."

"Did she ever help _you_?" countered that thing inside of me, "You're all better off without her."

"I'm sorry for what I did Mr. Bonnie, I really am. But I… I couldn't help it."

"Jeremy is your family, she's nothing. Are you going to let her go after what she did to your cousin?"

Mangle started to cry again, softly, vulnerable, just like a small girl. "M-maybe I don't d-deserve to be your friend after this," she sighed, "but I don't want t-to be scrapped… I d-don't want to g-go without any f-friends."

"She deserves it. It's not revenge, it's justice. You have all the right."

"I j-just want s-someone to say goodbye to."

"You said you want to destroy her, make her pay. Think about Jeremy."

"P-please… just let me s-say goodbye."

"You will feel better after doing it. No one will know."

"Can you l-let me do that?"

"Aren't you listening to me?! Destroy her!"

"No." I murmured coldly, silencing both speakers momentarily, "I won't hurt her." The voice inside of me screamed in protest, but it quieted down as I lowered my arm and shuffled away from Mangle. Taking a deep breath I leaned against the closest wall, trying my best to calm down.

Eventually, the nervous fox began to relax and stare at me with more confusion than fear. "A-are you still angry Mr. Bonnie?" she questioned unsurely.

"Not like before." was my low answer, "I don't know what happened to me." Ashamed, I returned her stare. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Mangle shuffled herself away from her corner, closer to me. A small silence followed, then she asked "Do you think he's going to live?"

"I don't know." was my honest reply, "I hope he does, I'd like to see him again. But even so, I don't think he'll be the same."

"If you ever see him again, please tell him that I say hi. Tell him I say thanks and…" She looked down in guilt. "Tell him that I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Another short-lived silence, then Mangle turned to me once more. I couldn't help but notice the contrast between the childish, vulnerable look in her eyes and her blood-stained fangs and snout. "Can you forgive me Mr. Bonnie?" she asked feebly, "Tomorrow will be the last day of Balloons and me, so I need to know now.

I thought for a while, and since I was tired of lies and secrets, I decided to tell her the truth. "To be honest, no; I cannot forgive you." When her eyes began to flood with sorrow, I added quickly "I cannot forgive you because there is nothing to forgive. This was not your fault."

"R-really?" she asked incredulously, looking up at me with hope and surprise.

"Really. And I'm sure that if he was here, Jeremy would say the same thing."

With a small smile, Mangle whispered in a soft and shaky voice "Thank you Mr. Bonnie."

"For what?"

"For saying that. It… it means a lot."

Shrugging, I replied with a casual "It's nothing." as I turned to stare at the opposite wall of parts and service. The happy feeling inside of me became bittersweet when I remembered what was going to happen tomorrow. "I feel useless. I wish I could do something to stop them."

"It's okay." said Mangle indifferently, "Don't worry about it."

"Really?" I asked, surprised by her carefree tone.

"Yes." She shrugged as well as her twisted body would allow. "I'm happy about the months we spent together, before reopening. The games, the arcades… it was really fun."

I sighed with bittersweet nostalgia. "It really was."

Minutes passed, and neither of us said a single word. We just remained there, in silence, alone with thoughts and memories. Eventually, I stood up when I realized there was nothing more to do or say. As I walked toward the door, I heard her call out shyly "Can I… Is it okay if I say goodbye to everyone tomorrow? I… I just think it's the best thing to do."

I turned around and nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea." Once again, I started to walk to toward the grey door, when I felt the urge to say one last thing. I faced her one last time for the night, and saw melancholic yellow eyes in the dark. "Good bye Mangle."

That yellow light then illuminated another sad smile. "Good bye Mr. Bonnie."

* * *

When I started to walk back to my room I saw an unmistakable black figure leaning against a wall; one that I was expecting, but not hoping, to see.

Marionette started to clap slowly and mockingly, barely making a soft thud with his fabric hands. "I was really not expecting that, Pizza Boy." he admitted with amusement, "I don't know if forgiving her was noble and stupid, or just stupid."

"What the hell did you do to me?!" I snarled, stomping my way to him, "You almost made me tear her apart and break her seal! It's not enough for you to make us kill guards, so now we have to destroy each other?!"

The puppet let out a smug chuckle. "It's funny how easy it is to manipulate angry people." He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in, and said "Fun fact: you weren't even taken over Brandon, you were just mad. You can't put the blame on Bonnie or me, it was all you."

"Everything that we have done so far is your fault." was my answer, "Including what happened to Jeremy. And don't _ever _put your disgusting voice inside my head again."

He raised his shoulders indifferently. "If that's what you want to believe, be my guest. But let me ask you one simple question, and I want you to actually think before answering." He pushed his slim, tall body off the wall and stared right through me, then questioned slowly and purposefully "Was that voice you heard really mine, or was it yours?"

A short yet tense silence followed as I just looked up at his pale face and hollow smile, unable to answer. Marionette then shrugged it off nonchalantly as he said "Fine then, don't say anything. We both know the answer anyways." He turned around and started to walk slowly and calmly to the Main Hall, away from the Party Rooms and me.

"You're a monster." I hissed bitterly as he started to turn the corner, "And no matter what you do or how much time passes by, I will never let myself become something as ugly as you."

The puppet stopped suddenly as he was turning around the corner; the scarce moonlight reflected off his mask, accentuating the contrast between his black eyes and white face. "You call me a monster before looking at yourself in the mirror." he mumbled coldly. "You lie to your brother, you hide the truth from the Toys, you hurt the ones you call friends. But _I _am the bad guy, while we have all those things in common. We could've been really good friends if things were just a little bit different. Don't you think it's a shame, Pizza Boy? After all, _we _are monsters."

"Get. Out." I growled with diminishing patience.

"Good night to you too Brandon." replied the puppet calmly, disappearing around the corner. As I walked to my Party Room, I couldn't help but think about his question, just to receive the answer I feared.

That had been my voice.


	33. And secrets don't keep

**A/N: **Welcome back guys, thanks for waiting me out and thanks for being here. This is a chapter I was really looking forwards to writing; it's basically the beginning of the storm that will be the end of Tape 2, both literally and figuratively. As always, let me know if you liked it, why you (dis)liked it, and what I could improve. And off course, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 33: And secrets don****'****t keep**

"I'm sorry for grabbing your rose Bugs Bunny." For the first time since I met him, an apology from Balloons wasn't drenched with sarcasm. The boy-like animatronic shuffled his feet uneasily as he looked at TB with sorry, pleading eyes.

"I'm sorry too." mumbled my counterpart, not quite managing to hide his emotions behind his voice. After all, everyone in the crowded service room felt the same way: sad and powerless.

Exactly two days had passed since the bite, and thanks to a phone call that we overheard from Erik one day earlier we knew that a crew would pick up both Mangle and Balloons at this time. What would happen to them was uncertain; there was talk of recycling parts or just scrapping them completely. In any case their bodies would be destroyed, leaving behind nothing but Shadows, those dark things without will that we all feared to become. But they, along with the other Toys, didn't know anything about their real nature, the blood seals or the red book. The five still saw themselves as robots, so in their eyes it would be like dying; something that didn't sound so bad compared with the real possibilities of being erased or becoming Shadows.

"But, are we okay?" asked Balloons one more time.

"Yeah." My counterpart managed to smile feebly, and whispered with heavy emotion "We're okay."

"Well… good bye then." continued the short animatronic with uncharacteristic gloominess as he turned around and headed to the grey door.

"Good bye." replied TB, waving a small and shy hand wave at Balloons. Everyone else already bid farewell to him, so without any more words the joker and clown of the group left the room with his head down. If the workers didn't find him in his usual spot in the Game Area there would be suspicions, so he had to wait alone. The work crew would arrive at any second now, and talking was out of the question.

"Bonnie?" said Sean suddenly. I turned around and looked at him expectantly. "You didn't say goodbye to Mangle."

"That's okay Mr. Freddy." interrupted the twisted white fox before I could speak, "We said goodbye to each other last night."

"Okay then." mumbled my brother, clearly too tired or too depressed to demand more details on our meeting. He sat down next to Junior and right in front of me, groaning softly as he bent his damaged knee. Wheezing, he lowered his head and whispered sadly "I'm sorry we couldn't do anything."

"What do you mean?" asked Mangle with genuine confusion, "You were my friends. You played with me, you fixed me when I broke down, you…" She stopped suddenly, closing her eyes with force as she whispered "You even forgive me for what I did. So please, don't say you did too little. You did too much."

Sarah, who was next to her, began to shove herself closer to the white fox, but she froze abruptly as the roar of an engine approached the building before stopping outside. Less than three minute later, two employees in blue overalls entered into the room. A painful feeling of déjà-vu came over me as one of the men took out Mangle's small and exposed battery from her endoskeleton. The small yellow glow that was still in her eyes faded away immediately, and without another word they dragged her inert body out of the room.

A few moments later Erik stepped into the room with a lit cigarette between his lips. Another employee came inside right after him. "Mr. Grant, should we grab the other ones as well?" asked this last man.

The manager took a long, thoughtful drag of his cigarette, then said "Don't worry about it. They probably won't fit, but we'll get them tomorrow." He began to head back to the door, then stopped suddenly and let out a frustrated growl as he slapped his hand over his head. "Goddammit, I forgot to tell Fritz that he's taking Fitzgerald's place tonight." He shook his head. "Well, I'll just call him when get home." Without saying anything else the two men left the room, closing the door as they stepped into the Main Hall. A couple of minutes later, the car that was outside the pizzeria drove away with two of our friends, leaving us all in a mournful silence.

* * *

"Should we tell them?" Ferny's sudden and whispered question cut through the quiet room like a knife. The Toys were together in one of the party rooms, while we stayed in parts and service. For the first time since we met them, it seemed like they wanted to be alone. In the hours after the employees took away Mangle and Balloons a soft drizzle had started to fall, and the rhythmic ticking of the small raindrops combined with the thoughts of losing those two had lulled us into a melancholic silence.

"Tell them what?" asked Sean lowly, not bothering to turn around to look at Fer.

"Who they are." Ferny raised his hook as if the answer was obvious. "They deserve to know the truth."

"Sure, that's a wonderful idea professor." interrupted Sarah sarcastically, "Let's tell them _everything _right before they get deactivated and scrapped, surely that'll make them feel better!"

"Sarah, please…" murmured my tired brother.

But she ignored him completely as she carried on. "Let's just tell them they're dead kids, that once upon a time they were like everyone who has ever come here, that they almost surely had a family that cared for them and loved them and worried about them when they disappeared."

"We get it." interrupted Sean with a higher tone to no avail.

"But they were murdered horribly and can't remember anything about it, because _we_..." Sarah pointed accusingly at us with her broken wrist in one smooth motion. "_We_, their best friends that they trusted blindly…" She pointed at herself and put down her hand. "_We _decided that it'd be better if they didn't know. So we kept our mouths shut and followed the game." She lowered her head, her voice trembling ever so slightly as she muttered more to herself than us "We didn't even say anything when they took Mangle and Balloons away, we're that good at lying to them. Why should we tell the other Toys anything, right? If we're such good friends, why should we tell them everything now and ruin the little happy memories they have left, right?!"

For one second Sarah glared at Ferny with purple eyes that glowed fiercely and intensely, but that strong light faded away slowly as she let out a long, painful sigh and bowed her head in regret. "I'm sorry guys." she whispered flatly after a few seconds.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked when she had calmed down enough.

"I don't know." Sarah looked at me and shrugged. "Maybe… maybe there's a time for the truth and a time for secrets. There are days when you can tell the truth without hurting anyone too much, and then there's a time when keeping a secret is better. Just telling the truth is the best, and we had the chance to tell the Toys everything a month or two ago. But we didn't, so to avoid screwing up even more we have to keep up the secrets, even if they deserve the truth. It sucks that we have to lie to avoid making everything more painful."

"At least they don't lie as much as _you_!" called out an unfamiliar and angry voice, seemingly right where I was sitting.

"Who said that?!" I demanded in panic, turning around frantically but seeing no one else than my four friends.

"Who said what?" asked Ferny calmly, eyeing me with worry.

"Somebody just said that I… that I'm lying to you." was my reluctant answer. "I heard it loud and clear in my head."

I thought I had put myself into the interrogation I had feared for long, but everyone just looked at me with worried eyes. "Don, is anything wrong?" asked Sean with a concerned voice, before shaking his head and sighing with an amused smile. "I mean, besides the obvious?"

"Nothing." I answered uncomfortably, scratching the back of my head as I leaned my back against the wall. "I was just sure that I heard someone say something to me."

"Take a rest. We've all been through a lot these past days, but I think you might be getting the worse of it."

I nodded obediently at my brother's advice, and turned my head to see Jack staring worriedly at me. "I'm okay buddy, relax." I assured him.

"Please, b-be careful." he pleaded softly.

"With what?"

"With your m-mind." He stared up at me with that same friendly, concerned glow in his eyes. "Please. I d-don't want to l-lose you."

"You won't lose me." I said with a certainty that surprised me; it truly sounded like I was sure of it.

It was then that the door creaked open ever so slightly, just enough for us to see my counterpart. "Can I…" he started in a weak whisper, but he simply broke up in quiet sobs as he covered his face with his hands.

"Don, I think he needs you." whispered my brother. "He's really close to you. Just talk to him for a while."

I nodded, stood up and left the room. TB had his back turned to me, his shoulders quivering slightly as he let out tiny sobs and moans, crying in the heart-wrenching way that only a small child can.

"Hey little me." I started awkwardly, scratching the back of my head, not really sure what to say. "It's, umm… I… I feel bad about everything. We all do."

He kept crying without looking at me, holding the same pose. With his back still to me, he whimpered after multiple seconds "I'm s-sorry Mr. Bonnie. I d-didn't want you t-to s-see me cry ag…again."

"It's okay, there's no shame in crying." I told him, "You all have been really strong. If I was in your place I'd be really scared."

"I am scared!" he wailed out, suddenly turning around to face me with bright eyes and tightened fists. "I d-don't want to die! I don't want t-this place to close down! I want to s-stay here and p-play with you and everyone!" He sniffed. "I want t-to see Mangle and B-Balloons and have him tease me all the time like he used t-to! I want to have Mr. J-Jeremy back here to t-tell me that this is not my fault! I want to p-play Pac-Man with you again, o-or watch fireworks, or play hide and s-seek! I want… I…"

His words got caught up in a series of sad sobs as he covered his eyes and cried in front of me, unable to say anything else. I began to take some slow steps to him, thinking about what I could say as I tried not to cry myself. Then, when I was right in front of him, TB hugged me with all his strength, holding on to me like a lifesaver as he buried his face in my chest and bawled his heart out.

"Shh, it's okay little me." I hushed with a wavering voice, slowly putting my hand behind his head.

"It's n-not okay!" he wept out loudly, before whimpering in a barely audible voice "I want t-to go back to t-the good days. I want to l-live with you. I j-just… I d-don't want to b-be without you."

Something in the sheer honesty and pain in his words hit me like a freight train. I began to sob softly as I tightened my embrace around him, and he did the same. I knew I was his best friend, and I was happy and proud that he called me that, but I didn't realize until then just how much I meant for him. I was both taken aback and slightly ashamed of myself; I didn't deserve his trust.

We remained there for a minute or two, until he had cried himself out and began to slowly pull himself from me, his eyes still low on the ground as he began to slowly rub his elbow with his hand. "I think dying isn't that scary." he mumbled with the tired and flat voice of one who was emotionally exhausted, "I'm just scared of being alone."

I knelt down to his height, and turned my head to look at both ends of the corridor, making sure that no one could hear me. "Can I tell you a secret TB?"

"Sure." he murmured.

"Do you remember when I told you that my parents went to a place that's really far away, first Dad then Mom?" He nodded without looking at me. I sighed, and whispered "The truth is… they're dead. Both of them."

He raised his head to stare at me with shocked green eyes. "I didn't think you knew about life and death." I continued, "I never thought you were that smart. I'm very sorry."

"Do you miss them more because they're dead?" asked TB weakly after a moment.

"More than you can imagine. But my mom taught me something really important after my dad died. She told me that as long as we remember the people that we loved and lost they will never really die, because they'll live in our hearts. When I remember them, I really feel like they're by my side, like they're with me."

I was suddenly aware of the heavier sound of the raindrops against the roof; the light drizzle had turned into true rain. "Take this." I said suddenly, opening my damaged chest and pulling out his rose, "It's yours; it's always been."

TB hesitated for a moment, before taking the plastic flower from my hands and storing it in his chest. He was about to say something, but then we both saw Junior and Mini standing sheepishly by the entrance of a party room, clearly wondering if they should come any closer.

"Hey friends." started my brother's counterpart uneasily, tipping his top hat at us. "TB, Mr. Mario is in the office. He'd like to talk to us."

My counterpart gave him a solemn nod as he started to walk to the other two Toys. I was about to follow them, but then Mini looked at me and said somewhat coldly "He only wants to talk to the three of us. Sorry Mr. Bonnie."

Slightly surprised, I stood still as TB joined his companions and walked out of view to the back of the party room corridor, towards the office. After a few moments I turned around and walked back to parts and service.

"How is he?" asked my brother as soon as I stepped inside.

"I don't know." I answered, sighing as I sat down in my previous spot.

"And how are _you_?" he asked again, this time with more concern.

"I don't know." I repeated in the same tone. "Part of me just wanted to tell him that everything is going to be alright, and part of me just wanted to tell him the truth." An understanding silence took over our group, before I turned my gaze on Ferny as a new possibility suddenly popped in my mind. "Fer, are we _sure _they'll become Shadows?"

Ferny tapped his foot thoughtfully for a few seconds before saying "That seems to be the common hypothesis."

"Speak in English professor." teased Sarah.

"It's what everyone thinks, but no one is one hundred percent sure of." he replied, "We're assuming that everything Walther told us is true because it's the only information we have, but he could've been wrong."

"Or he was lying." interrupted Sean.

Ferny nodded. "But then Marionette kinda said the same thing and he isn't a liar." He raised his shoulders. "It's impossible to be completely sure, but if anyone knows how those blood seals work it's them. Maybe the Toys will actually move on."

"Maybe." I repeated, allowing myself to feel the tiniest bit of hope. For a moment the room was completely silent, except for the constant ticking of raindrops.

Then we heard Junior scream out in pain and fear.

The five of us stood up in haste and rushed out of the service room as fast as our withered bodies would allow. Ferny was in front, followed closely by me and my limping brother, then Sarah and Jack at the back.

"I should've told him not to follow us." I thought while he stepped into the Main Hall behind me, but I forgot about that when I heard a painful shriek from Mini.

With a renewed sense of panic we rushed to the back of the dark corridor towards the office. We stopped in the middle, trying to figure out where exactly the screams where coming from, when TB let out a terrorized cry.

"The office." panted Ferny, looking at the opening at the end of the corridor. When we started to step into the room the lamps suddenly turned on, blinding us momentarily as we covered our eyes from the harsh light. After a couple of seconds our eyes adjusted, allowing us to see the three Toys knelt on the floor by the left air vent, facing us with distressed glowing eyes. Marionette was a bit closer to us, his hand on the light switch, staring at us gleefully. In between them Walther sat casually on the night guard's desk, the red book by his side while he pretended to read a newspaper article.

"Wow… time does fly." started our killer with childlike enthusiasm, putting the paper aside on the table. "Can you guys believe that it's been almost a year and a half since I gave you this life? I haven't seen you in over a year, except someone who I had the pleasure to talk with some days ago." He smiled smugly at me and immediately I tightened my fist and growled in anger.

"Guys, get away from that man." ordered my panicked brother to the Toys.

"Oh, they can't do that Freddy." cut in Walther mockingly, "Not only am I blocking their bodies with my seal," he pointed at the barely visible red glow on his chest, "but I took some extra precautions."

He turned his head to the knelt-down Toys, and we finally noticed the broken wires that sprouted from their twisted knee joints. A fresh wave of rage came over me as I noticed the pain that he was giving them.

"I mean, it's not like it matters." Our killer grabbed the newspaper and threw it at our feet, letting us see the headline of the short article: _Robots Scrapped. Freddy Fazbear__'__s is Closing._ "Your little friends will be destroyed by the company anyways!"

"Pups, do something." whispered Sarah pleadingly at Marionette, who simply let out a mischievous giggle as he shook his head.

"Oh, I did something!" replied the latter with a sickeningly sweet voice, "In fact I did a lot."

Mini raised her head to look at us with alarm, and groaned out meekly "Mr. M-Mario… he's with the b-bad man."

"Bad man?" rebutted Walther, faking shock as he put a hand on his chest theatrically. "That hurts sweetheart."

Sarah, my brother and Ferny stared at Marionette in disbelieve and pain, who in turn shrugged casually. "You're all so naïve." he muttered with irritation, "Oh, how I _hated_ being nice to you all. But seeing your faces now makes it all worth it."

"Why?" Ferny's voice trembled with uncharacteristic wrath. "What did we…"

"Oh, Fernando, don't bother." My friend glared at the black figure with apprehension when he revealed his real name. "Pizza Boy and I already had this conversation. In fact, he has some interesting things to tell you all!" I felt my body turn to ice as Marionette glared at me expectantly, and whispered with anticipation "Go on Brandon, tell them _everything._"


	34. Cold blood

**A/N:** Welcome back guys. Here's a little plottwist that I've been hinting at since chapter 5. Hope you like it ;)

Also, I really wanted to finish tape 2 in this chapter, but it's simply impossible. I'm currently abroad, so I don't have my laptop with me, meaning you'll have to wait a bit for the next chap; sorry for that. And since I'm posting from a tablet I apologize for for the typos that I surely made

Finally, there are lots of references to previous installments. I recommend giving a quick read to chapters 5, 6, 10 and 13; but off course that's up to you. In any case, happy reading and let me know how you liked it!

* * *

**Chapter 34: Cold blood**

"We're waiting Bonnie!" mocked Walther in a sing-song voice as he tapped the red book's cover casually. "I'd start right now, for your friends' sake."

TB raised his head with great effort, glaring at me with confusion and uncertainty. "Why a-are they calling y-you Brandon?" he groaned, "Y-you said that you d-didn't know who he was."

"Don, I can tell them if you want." offered my brother, whispering close to my ear.

"No." was my dry answer, "They want me to do it, so I'll do it."

My legs didn't move when I tried to take a step to the knelt-down Toys, and I realized with anger that Walther had blocked our bodies once again using his special seal; there was no way to get to him or Marionette, at least for now. The rain had worsened yet again; it battered the roof and the back wall of the office constantly, without slowing down for one moment.

I stood silent for a few seconds, trying to come up with an explanation that the Toys could understand. After a while, I tried to look at my counterpart in the eyes, but I didn't have the strength to do so. Staring at a blank space between the Toys, I told them everything in the most leveled voice I could.

"I am not Bonnie. I am not a character that was designed to keep kids happy. I am not a killer robot that enjoys what he does at night, what you two made me… no, made us do." I threw a defiant glare at Walther and Marionette, who in turned looked at me with curiosity and doubt. "My name is Brandon Williams, and I am a human, just like them," I turned to look at my friends behind me, "and just like you." I stared back at the shocked and confused Toys before me.

"Last year I went to a Freddy's that was smaller than this place with my friends. There was nothing special about us. We were normal kids, just like everyone else who comes here. Back then I only had three friends: Sarah," I looked at Chica's body, "Ferny," I did the same to Foxy, "and my brother Sean." Finally, I let my gaze fall on Freddy, and my brother looked back at me with familiar, warmly glowing blue eyes. "After the show we realized that we had tickets for a special party we didn't pay for. They told me that I could bring four people with me, so I brought my three friends and another kid that I saw alone in the back of the pizzeria." I turned around to look at the beaten-down golden animatronic suit a few feet behind me. "His name is Jack Schmidt, and because of me he's here right now. He has a brother that he loves and misses, and because of me, he's…"

I stopped suddenly, looking down and clenching my fist as I tried to hold back my crying. Then, there were some steps behind me, before I felt a heavy hand lay itself gently on my shoulder. "It was n-not your fault." whispered Jack warmly, "Please, s-stop saying that."

Sighing, I nodded as he pulled back his hand. "The party was a trap. We were all killed by a man pretending to be an employee in a costume." I raised my head to look at my killer straight in his indifferent eyes. "It was this man." I spat out with rage, "His name is Walther. He killed my two best friends, my brother, Jack and me. Months later, he killed you as well, together with Mangle and Balloons. But he arranged everything so the man who was supposed to be in the costume got all the blame, along with Jeremy, who is also my second cousin. When we woke up we found ourselves in these bodies."

"But, why can you remember?" asked Mini feebly, "I believe you Mr. Bonn… Brandon, but if the same happened to us we would remember."

"We're like this now because of things called blood seals." I answered, "They're symbols made with our own blood after we were murdered. To live on this world each one of us needs two of them: one on our bodies and one inside that red book next to our killer. But to make all the other ones work we need three special pairs of seals as well. Walther has one, and he can freeze our bodies with them. Jack has another that he can use to connect with souls. Marionette has the third, one that can change minds. He used that seal to make you forget all about yourselves, and he convinced us that it was better to keep that secret from you." When I looked back at the Toys, I saw three pairs of heartbroken eyes, looking at us in disbelief.

"I'm sorry." I whispered with regret and sorrow, "I'm so sorry."

"We're all sorry." added Sean next to me, "We should've told you months ago."

"So, we're real kids but we can't remember any of it?" asked Junior feebly, his blue eyes low on the ground. Slowly, I nodded once.

"Who are we then?!" demanded Mini in a painful wail, "What are our names?! Who are our families?!" She looked up at us pleadingly, and whimpered "You know something, right? You _must_ know something."

Junior and TB then stared at me with the same begging expression. Letting out a heavy sigh, I answered "We don't."

The three Toys lowered their heads slowly and almost simultaneously; heartbroken eyes low to the ground. Mini started to sob silently, turning her head slightly to look away from us, her shoulders trembling. 'This is it.' I thought, my heart heavy with regret. 'This is what we tried to avoid for so long.'

"Brandon, did you know about Marionette?" asked Sarah with a low voice.

I nodded. "Around a week ago I was about to hurt Jack, but he managed to use his seal to get me back. Right after the night, I saw Marionette talking with Walther while you were still unconscious." Glaring at the manipulator and the murderer, I hissed angrily "The puppet used his seal to turn us into killers at night."

"Wait, it's his fault?!" interrupted Ferny, staring at me with incredulous yellow eyes. "I… I killed that man a year ago." He then turned his furious gaze at the puppet, who only stared back with an air of indifference. Fer's voice turned into a low and hateful rumble. "I thought it was my fault for all this time. I hated myself for it, and meanwhile you smiled and laughed with us all. We… WE TRUSTED YOU!" His body shook and he growled with anger as he tried to move, baring his fangs at the nonchalant puppet.

"Now you know how it feels." murmured Marionette flatly, "The anger, pain and sadness of being betrayed, of being alone. You whiny brats at least had someone that cared for you, someone that loved you. I never had anyone. But off course, that was my old life." He raised his black and spindly hand, moving its fingers slowly in front of his face as he looked at them with awe. "This is the best thing that could've happened to me, and it was thanks to this man."

The puppet looked at Walther, who in turn stood up from the desk and gave us all a dramatic bow. "It feels good to be appreciated." said our killer giddily as he started to stroll around the room. "In time you will all be thankful to me, but meanwhile you might be wondering: 'Why us? What did we do to deserve this?' Well guys, it's all because of two brothers that you all had the bad luck to know."

The man in purple turned around to look at Sean and me with a sly grin. "What are you talking about?" muttered my brother, anger seeping through his voice.

Walther boasted another excited, child-like grin. "You see guys, Marionette hated those brothers because they had the family, friends and happiness that he never knew, but I hated them for a more personal reason." His grin grew even wider, letting us all know he was dying to tell us what he said next.

"Once upon a time these two brothers, Brandon and Sean, had a dad named Benjamin, who was a police officer. In that time I had a brother, Al. He was older than me and had a few friends, and they happened to like gambling, just like me. The thing is, we all liked to play with things that are illegal. I'm sure you know what I mean, or at least you will once you grow up. It was a hobby; we minded our own business and we only hurt people that deserved or needed to be hurt. At the end of the day, it was all in good fun."

By now my brother and I were entranced by Walther's words as we followed him with unbelieving stares. The murderer's eyes glossed over as he looked away from us, before letting out a nostalgic smile and sigh. He remained still for a few seconds, then his pleased expression was suddenly replaced by a hateful frown. "That was until that dirty cop showed up." he growled through clenched teeth, "Al, the boys and me were leaving Marco's apartment, about to cross the street, when a patrol car stopped right in front of us."

Our killer shook his head in indignation, stomping hard on the floor as he kept strolling around the office. "Brandon and Sean's daddy, that idiot cop, stepped out of the car with his partner, and said that he was going to arrest us! Arrest us!" Walther let out an angry chuckle. "The damn nerve of that guy; we were five, they were two."

"What… what are you saying?!" I blurted out, unable to believe what he told, "What did you do?!"

Our killer suddenly turned around to glare at me with blazing, furious eyes as he quickly made his way to me, and hissed out "My brother panicked, so he pulled his revolver and fired. It hit the car. Benjamin's companion took cover, but the war-hero-daddy-of-two simply raised his gun and shot my brother in cold blood. My… own… brother!" Walther's face was now right in front of mine, and he bared his teeth in animalistic fury as I felt how reality crushed me from inside; I already knew what he was going to say.

Walther then took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and smiled pleasantly at Sean as he stepped up to him. The man in purple then asked my brother with poisonous sweetness "So, what did I do?"

"You shot him." whispered Sean in shock and horror, "You killed Dad."

Our killer grinned at him with excitement and pride, nodding. "And then I killed his disgusting offspring, their snotty friends, and as an extra…" He cocked his head casually at the astonished Toys. "Al would be proud of me."

I felt lightheaded and nauseated; my legs were suddenly too weak to hold my body. If I wasn't paralyzed in that position I would've fallen on my knees. A thunder roared in the distance as my brother lowered his head, gritting his teeth, his fists balled and trembling with unimaginable hate.

Our killer simply let out a short, arrogant chuckle at the display. "What's wrong Freddy?" he taunted, his face inches away from my brother's lowered head, "Is something troubling you? Don't tell me you still believe that kid is alive. He's gone, just like his brother, his daddy and his friends. I killed them all to avenge Al and give you a wonderful life. So, what's the matter?"

"I would be careful" advised Marionette with crossed arms, inspecting Sean and me with his hollow eyes, "He's furious, more than you can ever imagine. I can feel his rage, and it's… strong."

Walther turned around to look at the puppet. "So?" he huffed, smirking at the lanky figure before leaning in close to my brother once more. "There's nothi-"

Sean's huge metal fist rammed into our killer's stomach, turning his words into a painful gasp for air as he bent over, clutching his midsection. "H-how…" he groaned, looking up at my brother, but the tall man was interrupted by a harder blow against his chin that sent him flying a few feet back, right in front of the desk with the red book.

"IT WAS YOU!" roared Sean, his voice distorted by rage. I could feel how my body loosened up as Walther struggled to get on his knees, his face looking down. "YOU KILLED DAD!" All eyes in the room followed the massive brown figure as he started to take some big, laborious steps towards the man. "YOU KILLED HIM!" Walther looked up just in time to see the growling animatronic stop in front of him, covering the man with its shadow. Without mercy or grace he grabbed the man by his neck, hoisting up until he was face to face with two blazing blue eyes.

"Why aren't you bleeding?!" demanded the creature that was supposed to be my brother, "You should be bleeding!"

"It's… it's my seal." wheezed Walther, "My body… I'm m-more resistant than a regular g-guy." Flashing a little smile, he teased in a hoarse whisper "You're g-gonna have to do a l-little bit more than that."

Sean answered with another bestial roar, slamming the man against the office desk. The cheap piece of furniture immediately exploded into a hundred pieces of plywood, sending the desk fan, monitors and papers on it flying around the two. The red book was catapulted from the table to the middle of the office, stopping a few feet in front of me and Marionette, right as I felt how the last bit of control that Walther had over our bodies faded away.

The puppet and I stared at each other in the eyes for just an instant, then each one of us made a short and desperate rush to the book. He swapped it off the floor with a smooth sweep of his long arm, but I immediately grabbed the wrist of his hand holding the thing. Without thinking I shoved him against the nearest wall, crushing his slender frame against it with my armless shoulder as he groaned in pain. After a few seconds I felt his body give out under the pressure; he slid down when I took a small step back from him, my hand still squeezing his wrists with hopefully-painful strength.

"I'm w-warning you, Pizza Boy." panted Marionette helplessly, slumped down against the wall, his other arm wrapped around his crushed chest, "Don't… don't do anything you'll regret." He looked up at me with fear in his eyes, just like he did some nights ago with Bucky. I realized with evil joy that he was afraid of me. "I… I know that y-you're angry."

"But it's okay to be angry, isn't it?" I cooed mockingly, savoring sweet revenge. There was a constant banging and growling behind me, and it was obvious to me that Sean was battering Walther relentlessly with iron fists. "I thought it was better not to hold back and just let all my anger take over me." A hint of pure hate appeared in Marionette's scared gaze. "Thanks for the tip puppet, you were completely right."

I raised my metal foot all I could, before slamming it on top of Marionette's midsection, cracking the tiles beneath him. He let out a series of low-pitched groans as I twisted my foot, grinding him against the floor. "Let. It. Go." I growled, leaning my whole weight on top of him.

With visible effort and pain he managed to lift his head up to see me with pinpoint eyes that faded in and out, and gasped weakly "Ghh… Give you the b-book? So y-you can erase Walther and e-end this?" He raised his head a bit more, and muttered "No, thank you."

It was the answer I was hoping for. I tightened my grip around his wrist all I could, and began to slowly pull back his arm. When Marionette tried to rise up with me I pushed him down with my foot, applying more pressure. He panted and grunted in pain as I stretched out his arm completely, and then I kept pulling. His low grunts turned into full-out screams as the fabric around his shoulder began to tear and part, exposing bits of white stuffing.

"Now you'll know how it feels to lose an arm." I stated coldly. There was an audible rip when all the little tears began to connect and grow, signaling that the cloth and thread were about to give out; the puppet wailed in agony. Meanwhile, louder thunders boomed along with the ever-present rain and sounds of metal fists against flesh. But among all this noise and chaos, a single voice rung loud and clear.

"STOP! STOP NOW, PLEASE!"

TB's desperate wail silenced and froze everything and everyone. I kept holding Marionette's arm but stopped pulling, and turned around to see what was going on behind me.

Jack stared at me with surprised and fearful eyes, while Sarah tried to hush him to the other side of the room. Unsure and nervous, Ferny glared at me with his hook raised, surely afraid that I had turned after seeing the way I tortured the puppet. Sean was on his knees in front of Walther, who was sprawled over the bed of broken wood like a ragdoll. The man coughed blood every time he took a breath; his face and neck completely crimson. My brother then opened his fists, and stared at his red-tainted hands with a neutral expression. Junior and Mini inspected him with slight distrust, while TB looked straight at me with pained green eyes.

'How beautiful.' complemented a clear voice inside my head, 'Doesn't it feel wonderful to let all that hate and anger out? Don't you love the burning-hot rage flowing through your body? Common kid, don't tell me this isn't the most fun you've had in a long time.'

'What are you?' I thought angrily, 'How did you get inside my head?'

The thing chuckled. 'I've always been here idiot, but I simply wasn't strong enough to talk to you before. You know me well, in fact, you could say I'm a part of you that's just starting to really grow.' I now recognized that voice as my own. 'By the way, thank you for feeding me.'

"Bonnie." I gasped aloud, though no one seemed to notice.

He huffed in annoyance. 'I didn't choose my name, but yes, it's me.' His voice then took a more happy, proud tone as he said 'I must say that I'm surprised. I know it's just a matter of time before I take over you completely, but I didn't expect that you'd turn into me first! Your brother and you are fast learners.'

'I am not like you.'

Bonnie let out a short, satisfied giggle that sounded terrifyingly identical to mine. 'I knew you'd say that, Brandon.'

'You shouldn't know my name.' I thought nervously.

'And you shouldn't tear someone's arm off.' was his nonchalant reply, 'But here you are, doing it, enjoying it. So please, don't mind me. Just give in to that delicious revenge you're enjoying, together with your brother. We'd hate to interrupt your party, but then again...' Bonnie's voice became bitter and hateful once again. 'We also hate it when you interrupt ours.'

I looked down at Marionette, who was huffing in pain on the floor and glaring at me with pure, unmasked hate. He didn't even try to wrestle himself from my foot. Thinking about Bonnie's words, fighting the temptation to cause Marionette more pain, I said flatly "Just give me the book puppet. I promise I won't hurt you, unless you do something stupid"

"H-how do I know you're..." he grunted in pain, "How do I k-know you're not lying?"

"Because I'm not you."

Marionette glared at me silently for a few seconds, before simply opening his hand holding the book; the thing promptly fell at my feet. Without taking my eyes off him I finally released his wrist and picked up the red book, surprised that he didn't make any sudden movements.

I turned my eyes to the red and yellow figures eyeing me defensively, before asking them in a monotone, tired voice "Sarah, Fer, could you help get the Toys on their feet?"

They both relaxed their posture immediately; Ferny lowered his hook while Sarah stepped aside from Jack, but all three still seemed wary of me. Noticing this, I told them "It's me guys. I promise that it's me."

"Okay" was the only thing Ferny said as he and Sarah walked to the knelt down figures. Sighing, I waved Jack over to come closer to me, and he did so trustfully.

"Wh... What's the matter F-Freddy?" groaned Walther, somehow managing to sound mocking and in control. "H-Here..." The man coughed violently, spraying tiny drops of blood and saliva over the clean wood. "Here I am, bleeding j-just like you wanted. But, you don't s-seem very happy." He paused for a moment, as if trying to come up with an explanation. "This isn't enough f-for you, is it? You don't want to hurt me." He flashed a crimson grin at my brother. "You want to k-kill me."

"You're damn right." murmured my brother without shame or pride, "The only thing I want to do is murder you in the most slow, painful way I can think of. Every time you ask me for mercy I'd ask someone to cause you more pain." His words shocked us, but at the same time we all shared the same desire deep down in our hearts.

"Yes, I want to kill you, but that wouldn't solve much." continued Sean dryly, "There is only one thing that can save us from being here forever, and I won't even have to kill you." He then turned his cold blue eyes at me. "But Don will have to erase you."

"A-are you sure?" I questioned nervously, suddenly feeling powerless and unsure.

My brother gave me a slow, purposeful nod. "Finish this private. Finish this so we can see Dad again."


	35. Rain

**Chapter 35: Rain**

The weight of responsibility suddenly made the little red book feel incredibly heavy, and my stripped metal hand trembled under the small object. Jack sat in front of me with as I clutched the book tightly and tried to steady my pulse.

"Are we really doing this?" asked Sarah to no one in particular, her voice low and unbelieving.

She looked at Ferny as if hoping for backup, and he returned her gaze before staring back at my brother and calling out in the same tone "What about saying goodbye to our families?"

"Jack's brother still doesn't know anything." I added, looking up at Sean, who bowed his head thoughtfully, ignoring the anxious stares from us and our bleeding killer.

After a few seconds, my brother let out a low sigh before saying "This might be the only chance we ever get to leave these bodies, to make sure no one will ever get hurt again. We thought it'd be better if the truth came out, but maybe some things are best left forgotten, for now." He raised his head to look at me purposefully. "Maybe we're not ready, maybe this isn't the best moment, but it's an opportunity that we need to take." He then commanded with barely contained rage "Do it Don. Erase this bastard."

I answered with a decided nod as I laid the book on the floor and made my way through its bloody pages. Though every seal shared the same basic pattern, every single one also had a unique feature that connected it to its owner somehow. One page had a simplistic bear head next to the main symbol, and I realized that it was the twin of the seal inside Sean's body that I saw over a year ago. I kept scanning through the book until I found what I was looking for: a blood seal with something like a star in the lower left corner of the triangle.

For a minute or two there hadn't been any thunders outside, so now only the sound of raindrops could be heard in the crowded office. I felt a knot in my throat as I stared at Jack's nervous eyes. "I'm… I'm a b-bit scared." he whispered, his words barely audible.

"So am I buddy." I confessed, "But we will meet again in a better place." He managed to give me a feeble smile. Seeing this, I took a good hold of the page, ready to tear it up.

"I… I wouldn't d-do that if I were you, Bonnie." called out Walther, wheezing as he rolled on his side towards us.

Sean immediately pinned down the side of the man's head against the floor as a familiar furious glow took over his eyes. "Too late to beg, murderer." he growled close to Walther's ear

Grunting in pain, the killer focused his eyes on me, and stuttered hoarsely "T-turn over the page."

I glared at the bleeding man warily, lowered my gaze to the book, and did as I was told. And when I saw the other side of that bloody page all my resolve was replaced by surprise and a feeling of betrayal.

There, drawn in the same messy and bloody streaks, was another seal. It was identical to Walther's, except that the star in the lower left corner was now at the top of the rusty red triangle. It took me a few seconds to remember everything we knew about those things, and then I arrived at a conclusion that reignited my hate against that man in purple.

"This is Jack's seal!" I called out angrily, glaring at Walther as a triumphant grin appeared on his bloody face. "You drew his symbol on the same page as yours!"

The killer managed to chuckle arrogantly under my brother's hand, before groaning happily and painfully "Y-yes, it is. You didn't r-really believe I would make it _that _easy… r-right?"

Sarah and Ferny, who were trying to fix up the Toys as best as they could, looked at me in surprise. "Are you sure?" asked the latter.

I nodded, then I heard Walther's muffled groans as he wretched under Sean's heavy hand. "How do we break free of this?!" demanded my brother threateningly.

"I t-thought you guys knew already." The man let out a short, mocking giggle. "You just have t-to break my blood s-seal! Sure, you'll erase Bucky along with me, but who c-cares?" He rolled his eyes back at me. "The w-world would be a better p-place without him. You said that yourself Bonnie, so why are y-"

Walther's words turned into a choking gasp as my brother clenched his massive hands around the man's throat and lifted him up, so the two were face-to-face once more. "Are you saying that there is no way out of here without erasing Jack?" Sean was almost whispering; desperation and anger blending together in his voice.

The killer smiled innocently, before croaking out "Y-yes."

A silence of defeat took over the room, which was then interrupted by Jack's quiet, shy voice. "Do it." he whispered, pointing at the book in my hands, looking sideways in resignation. "You'll s-stay here forever if you d-don't."

"Are you crazy?!" I blurted out loud, harsher than I wanted to. Jack winced back and looked up at me in mild fright. Sighing, I continued with a milder tone "Please don't say that again… please." He nodded slowly. "I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."

"Then there's nothing you can do." a familiar voice behind me stated matter-of-factly. I turned my head to see Marionette, still leaning against the wall as he held unto his teared shoulder. "You'll stay here forever, rotting, changing."

"You're wrong." replied Sean coldly, eyeing the puppet with a neutral expression before focusing back on the man hanging in his hands. "If you can't help us, murderer…" A glint of bloodlust appeared in his blue eyes. "…then there's no reason to keep you alive." He tightened his grip on the man's neck even more, until he was visible crushing his windpipe. "If you and me were alone I'd make this much, _much _more painful for you."

Huffing and gasping for air, Walther wheezed out "If… you kill me… w-what makes you… better than me?"

"A million different things that you will never understand." was Sean's cold reply.

All three Toys stared at the choking man and my brother with unbelieving, scared eyes. Noticing this, Sarah placed broken wrist gently on Mini's shoulder, and whispered softly at the trio "You don't need to see this."

As the three smaller figures turned around, Ferny and Sarah turned their heads away from the ongoing murder as well, conflicting emotions visible in their eyes. But I was entranced by the violent display in front of me.

"You're actually going to let your brother kill him?" questioned Marionette behind me in genuine surprise. I ignored him completely. "That won't fix anything!" For the first time since I met him, the puppet seemed to be concerned for someone that was not himself. "He dies, and then what?! Nothing will change with you! The Toys will still be destroyed anyways! What will you all do, huh?!" By now it was clear everyone was hearing him, but we chose to ignore his desperate words. "Tell the truth?! Without your cousin you have no one to help you! Run away from this place?! For God's sake look at you! You're _animatronics_! You're not people, you're not human, you're _things! _You belong to this place, you belong to us! You _need _us!"

"SHUT UP!" I snapped, turning around and stomping my to him, the red book trapped in my trembling fist. "We're not anyone's toys, especially yours!" Marionette shuffled back from me in fear as I stopped right in front of him. "I don't care if somewhere in your twisted minds you believe that what you did is okay… it's NOT!" I threw a quick glance at Walther, who was desperately trying to free himself to no avail, his eyes closed tightly. Taking a moment to let the anger flow out of me, I looked back at Marionette, and muttered "We're killing a killer, and that's fair to me. Like you said: it's not revenge, it's justice. And there is nothing you can tell us that will change our minds."

An idea suddenly flashed inside Marionette's hollow black eyes. "Are you sure there's not a single thing I can say to make Sean free Walther?" he asked with more confidence, almost teasingly.

"No."

His eternal smile seemed to grow just a bit wider as he turned his face in my brother's direction, and called out with sudden enthusiasm "Hey, Sean! Guess what?!" The brown figure was unfazed, still focused on ending our killer's life. "YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD!"

"Shut up!" I hissed in panic.

"SHE HUNG HERSELF ON YOUR BIRTHDAY OVER A YEAR AGO!"

"We had a deal!"

"Your brother knew this for all that time…" The puppet stared right at me before screaming out triumphantly "AND HE DIDN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING!"

"SHUT UP!" Taken over by anger I threw the red book behind me, grabbed Marionette's damaged arm before he could react, and with one strong pull, ripped it from his shoulder. He shrieked in agony as he clutched unto his armless side, sliding down against the wall, writhing in pain.

I panted with boiling anger as I looked down at his squirming form, before noticing the silence behind me. I turned around to see eight pairs of wide, startled eyes. I glanced at the slender black limb in my hand with horror before dropping it hastily.

"Is it true private?" whispered my brother meekly, his eyes filled with incredible anguish and sadness. A red-headed Walther was still trapped in his brown hand. The killer was barely moving; his fingers twitched slightly and his arms hung limply from his sides. "Please, tell me they're lying."

A heavy silence hung in the room for a few seconds, before I lowered my gaze from Sean's eyes. "I'm sorry." I answered in a thin, weak whisper, realizing there was no point in lying. "I'm so sorry."

"No…" My brother shook his head slowly in denial while the arm that held our killer began to tremble. "No, please, no…" His brown hand opened on its own accord and the tall man dropped to the floor, desperately gasping for air. Sean kept shaking his head more rapidly, blue eyes flooded with horror and pain as he stumbled backwards and leaned an arm against the nearest wall for support; it seemed like he could fall on his knees at any moment. He lowered his stare, closing his eyes as he stood completely still.

For a few seconds no one said anything. Then, without lifting his eyes, my brother whispered in an emotionless voice "Did anyone else know?"

"N-no." I stuttered through the knot in my throat.

"So, Mom died and you didn't say anything?"

A deep guilt nestled itself in my chest, making me feel sick. "I… I wanted to, Sean." I mumbled as I tried not to cry. "I really w-wanted to, but I… I couldn't." I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling nauseated. "I'm sorry brother, I'm so s-"

"DON'T!" He suddenly raised a trembling fist to the side of his still-lowered head, his voice filled with an anger that surprised me. "Don't… don't talk to me!"

"Brother, please…"

"I SAID DON'T TALK TO ME!" Sean raised his eyes, glaring at me with spite. "You lied to me for all this time, and now you say you're sorry?! How many times did I ask you if anything was wrong, how many times did I remind you that we don't keep secrets?!" My mouth opened and closed incoherently; I couldn't make a sound. "I _knew _something was wrong from the first day we turned you back on, but you said that everything was okay and I _trusted _you! _We _trusted you!"

I began to whimper quietly, my head lowered to the ground. Sean carried on, his voice quivering and pained. "I… I really though we c-could just stay the same, you know? Just y-you and me and everyone else, h-helping each other out. I really thought that nothing c-could change what we used to be."

"U-used to be?" I cried aloud, "_Used _to?" He didn't answer as he slid down against the wall, sitting hard on the floor, his furious eyes cast downward and his arms splayed to his sides in a defeated yet angry pose. Whimpering softly, I picked up the red book and took some slow steps across the office until I was in front of him.

"Go away." growled Sean lowly, not looking up.

"I'm sorry brother." I replied with a wavering voice. "I wish there w-was another way to t-tell you how I feel, but there isn't. You h-hate me right now, I know that." I sighed, "And I u-understand you. But please t-try to understand me."

He didn't move or make a sound; it was as if I hadn't said anything at all. Then, another voice suddenly called out from the other side of the room, and said in an all too sympathetic way "Sean, are you angry at your brother?" It was Marionette. I quickly turned around to see him sit up straight against the wall, his opened hand pointing at us. "It's okay to be angry."

For a few seconds Sean stayed still and silent. Then, with his shadowed eyes still low, he mumbled in a cold and mechanical tone "Yes… I am angry with Don."

Panic took a hold of me when I realized what Marionette was doing. "Brother, don't listen to him." I whispered anxiously. "He's trying to control you. He did the same to me and I almost hurt Mangle because of that. Don't listen to him!"

"Are you going to believe that liar, Sean?" asked the puppet nonchalantly, "After all the things he did to you, you're just going to forgive him? Do you _want _to forgive him?"

My brother bowed his head even more, closing his eyes as his hands tightened into fists and he breathed heavily with rage. "No, I don't." he growled.

"Don't let him win!" I hissed desperately to no avail.

"What do you want to do then?" continued Marionette with a triumphant hint in his manipulative voice, "Show me. Show _him._"

Sean's fist trembled eagerly, but he stayed on the floor, head still low; soon it seemed like he had calmed down. His eyes were still closed, shadowed by the rest of his face.

"Brother?" Concerned, I bowed down to find his eyes. "Are you o-"

I gasped as his huge hand tightened around my neck, crushing it like a metal clamp. The figure in front of me stood up and raised his head, unveiling two burning eyes, filled with unnatural anger. Squirming, I felt how gears and metal around my neck whined from the pressure. TB screamed. The puppet cackled with joy. The thunderstorm roared once again.

"Brother, p-please…" I groaned lowly, "You don't w-want to do t-this… I… know."

He remained perfectly still as he whispered mechanically "Now you will learn how it feels to be hurt by your only brother." His cold blue eyes were devoid of any feeling of affection, and I forced back a sob when I saw him like that. Suddenly, I felt his hand trusting my body forwards and down; my feet disconnected from the ground. For one instant I was looking up at the blank ceiling, weightless, then my back was smashed against the floor. Something cracked, and I hoped it was a tile.

"Stop it doofus!" Sarah was suddenly standing next to him, glaring at him with angry and slightly scared eyes. "Can't you see that he's sorry?!" When she got no reaction, she stepped closer and laid a broken wrist on his tattered shoulder. "Please Sean," she resumed gently, "let him g-"

She was cut off by a brown fist that connected with her broken mouth, sending her sprawling on the floor. "Sarah!" Ferny rushed to the yellow body, kneeling next to her, holding her arm as she slowly sat up. Whilst I was lying on my back something heavy slammed itself on my chest, pinning me down. My body doubled over from the pain, and I let out a soft grunt as I saw a brown feet on top of me, below two furious blue eyes.

"Stop it Sean!" called out Ferny in anger, "You're gonna break him in two!"

"Mr. F-Freddy, please…" TB cried behind me, "P-please don't hurt him a-anymore. He's m-my best friend." Slowly and painfully, I leaned back my neck to see my counterpart fall on his back when he tried to stand up.

"Don't… don't c-come closer little me." I wheezed before turning my head sideways. "You t-too Fer. He will hurt y-" I was cut off by another stomp on my chest, pressing me harder against the floor. My vision darkened as I felt how my body was ready to collapse from the pressure. Letting out sharp, raspy breaths, I stared at the dark figure on top of me, and whispered "You're n-not yourself, Sean. P-please, I know you're m-mad at me, and I… I d-deserve that. But do you r-really want to do this?" His blue eyes remained empty and cold. "Does this m-make you happy, brother?"

He didn't answer. For multiple seconds nothing changed; his foot was still on my chest, crushing it constantly as raindrops kept ticking against the roof. Then, for one moment, I thought I saw something in those empty eyes, something similar to the big brother I knew, something similar to regret.

And in that same moment, a square monitor smashed itself against the back of his neck, showering us with pieces of broken glass. The brown animatronic stumbled sideways, away from me, letting me see a panting, furious and blood-covered Walther.

"What are you doing?!" hollered the man, facing the bear, "_I _decide when it's time to leave someone out of our game, no one else! Besides, did you forget the rules?! _You can__'__t touch me!_" Sean stood straight, fists ready as he glared at the man with the same anger he had towards me; but he could only growl in frustration as his body twitched uselessly. He was frozen in place.

I noticed that Walther turned his gaze to the little book on the floor, a few feet by my side. Ignoring the pain I shoved myself closer to it and stretched my arm to grab it in haste, only to feel my own body lock up when my fingers brushed the red cover.

"And you…" Our killer's voice oozed with spite as he picked up the book, glaring at me. "You disobeyed me, you betrayed me, you got beat up once again, and you still didn't accomplish _anything._" He shook his head in disappointment. "_One _person! You only had to erase _one_ person, the most useless of the bunch, and everything would've been over." Chuckling, he browsed through the book, stopped when he was halfway through, and whispered "Now it's time to receive your lesson. Don't say I didn't warn you, Bonnie."

The sound of ripping paper was accompanied by a crushing, painful burning in my chest. I clutched at my side as I forced back a cry, doubling over, twisting on the floor while everything seemed to fade in and out slowly. After a few seconds the pain began to flow out of me, and I turned my hazy vision to see Walther holding a ripped page out of the book, its blood seal intact.

"This is you." said the man mockingly, "Do you see how easy it is for me to erase everything you are, just like you tried to do with me? Doesn't feel nice, right Bonnie?" I remained quiet while I waited for him to rip apart the page along with my existence, but after a short silence Walther simply folded the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. "From now on you'll be my golden warranty." Looking at the rest of my friends, he yelled out with pride "If any of you try to grab this book from me, I'll simply reach into my right pocket and erase your friend! So, don't _ever _break the rules again! Agreed?!"

A hateful, scared silence was our answer. Seemingly satisfied, our killer nodded in approval before wiping some blood off his face with his purple shirt's sleeve. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed with a joyful smile. "Great to see we all agree on something."

"Walther, help me." That was Marionette's voice. The puppet groaned as he pulled himself on two feet in the back of the office, his only arm resting on a nearby table. "I… I can't walk." he muttered in shame, before eyeing me with pure hate. "That stupid brat crushed my chest."

The killer nodded casually as he picked up a large shard of glass from the floor. "That's okay." said the man happily, walking up to the slender figure. "I know how to fix that."

"Thank you." The puppet seemed to be genuinely grateful while Walther stopped right in front of him. "Still… they're gonna scrap me when they see me like this."

"Don't worry about that." answered the killer in the same joyful tone, "In fact, don't worry about anything." A look of confusion appeared in Marionette's hollow eyes, but this soon turned into bewilderment when the man drove the piece of glass into his chest and ripped it open. Even from where I was laying, I was able to make out the weak glow of his broken blood seal.

"W-why…" Marionette stared at the tall man with sadness in his eyes as he slowly slid down against the wall. "I… helped you. I d-did everything you wanted, e-everything you asked f-for…"

Raising his shoulders, Walther showed off his characteristic grin. "Yes, you did. Thanks by the way. Unfortunately, since everyone knows that now, you're not so useful anymore."

"Use… useful?" groaned the puppet, a hint of anger in his weak voice. "T-that's all I was to y-you? Useful? I t-thought we were… f-friends."

"Don't be so sad!" replied the killer cheerily, throwing away the piece of glass. "I heard the Shadows were dying for some company. You have a couple of new friends waiting for you!"

Marionette only stared up at the smiling man's tall form, an incredulous look in his eyes. Then, the puppet fell on his side as he lost all control over his body, and after a few seconds the last bit of white light disappeared from his eyes, leaving behind two empty holes in a mask.

The killer turned around to look at all of us once more as if nothing had happened. He then stared down at his book and opened it, before saying with faked sadness "Unfortunately, as we know, not everyone here can keep playing." Walther scanned through the pages and grabbed three of them in one hand. Looking at the Toys, he whispered "I'm sorry guys. Your game ends here."

"DON'T!" I screamed in panic as I tried desperately to do something, anything, to stop him. But I could only look helplessly from my paralyzed body as the killer ripped the three pages from the rest, held the book under his arm, and broke them in two.

The Toys cried in agony as they clutched their plastic chests. Junior and Mini fell flat on the floor like dead weight, a few feet away from TB, the glow in their eyes fading in and out as they twisted in pain. Then, they went completely still.

All five of us looked at our counterparts with pain and horror, but none of us could move one inch. Walther simply walked past the three small, colorful bodies and us, back to the opening to the party room corridor. "Catch you later guys!" he called out friendly, waving at us as he stepped into the darkness. "I'll see you all in the new location." The killer's footsteps slowly faded away, blending with the rain, until they disappeared entirely. A minute later a door opened in the distance, and we could finally move.

Sarah and Ferny rushed to the unmoving Junior and Mini, their expressions were filled with angst and pain whilst I dragged myself to my counterpart.

"C'mon, please…" Fer shook the small bear's shoulders desperately, ignoring his empty blue eyes. "Wake up! Move! Please Junior, p-please, do something…" His shaking gradually died down, and he lowered his head in defeat.

Sarah wasn't doing much better. Her counterpart was sprawled on the floor, her eyes devoid of that human glow they all had. "Move, you l-little bozo." she cried softly as she nudged her side with her tattered wrist, "Mini… j-just move, please!" But the little girl she played with was no more.

I braced myself for the worst as I approached my counterpart, but then he let out a weak groan as his green eyes rolled to see me in pain. "Mr. B-Brandon?"

"I'm… I'm here little me." I whispered as I came by his side, "It's okay, I'm here." He was still on his back, not taking his eyes off me. When I looked back at the three broken pages, I saw that one of them wasn't completely split down the middle: there was still a tiny bridge of paper connecting the two halves.

"It h-hurts…" TB cried softly, "It hurts a l-lot… I d-didn't think it would h-hurt so much."

"I'm sorry." was all I could whisper, "I'm s-so sorry. I wish I could do something."

"Don't go…" begged my counterpart, "P-please, don't go. Stay here."

"I would never leave."

"Thank… you." TB stayed silent for a moment, then asked "If I'm a human, after I d-die, will I get t-to see the outside w-world?"

Leaning my hand on the floor, I managed to kneel up next to him. "Yes." I lied, "Yes, you will. You will s-see all the mountains and oceans and f-forests you always dreamed about."

"That's… g-great." His voice was becoming lower, but he still managed to smile. "Even so, I will m-miss you… so much." With slow, tired movements, he opened his chest and pulled out his rose in his trembling hand. "Take this… Mr. Brandon. I s-still want you to have it." Sobbing softly, I took the plastic flower from him. "It's y-yours, it always was."

Why did you give me that, TB? You knew as well as me that I didn't deserve it in the slightest. Even after finding out about my lies, even after I failed to protect you, you gave it to me. You trusted me to keep it safe. But you never cared about any of that, did you? Why the hell were you so good to me?

…

"Keep it s-safe." he pleaded.

Sighing, I placed his flower inside of my hollow body. "I will."

He smiled, knowing that I meant it. Then, with what little strength he had, he slowly lifted his arms to me, and I realized that he wanted one last hug.

I wrapped my arm around his smaller frame and pulled him close to me with all my force, feeling how he embraced me weakly with all he had. We remained there for around a minute, myself crying more than him, feeling like I was about to lose another family member. Then, he whispered softly: "It d-doesn't hurt… so m-much now. Thank you… Mr. Brandon. Thank y-you for being… my friend."

His arms slid off my back until they were hanging limply by his sides, and I felt how his head lolled sideways. "TB, little m-me…" I whimpered, "P-please, not yet, n-not yet…" I shook my head, letting the body fall back against my hand. The warm light that used to shine so bright in his eyes had disappeared, leaving behind nothing but colored plastic.

He was gone.

I remained on my knees after putting down the light-blue animatronic, weeping, ignoring everyone and everything else as I listened to the sound of crying angels in the thunderstorm above us.

* * *

The rest of the night and the following morning are nothing more than blurs. Fritz must've approached the office at some point, since I remember someone screaming and cursing that there had been a break-in. I don't think anyone moved or even made a sound. Everyone was grieving what we lost on that rainy night: the Toys were erased along with the last hope we had on ever freeing ourselves from this curse.

I remember that the morning arrived almost immediately, but in the moment it probably felt like an eternity. The same crew that took away Mangle and Balloons came for us, along with Erik, Dave and Fritz. I think the manager blamed the supposed break-in on Fritz; later I would learn that he fired him right there and then.

They took the Toys first, disconnecting their batteries as if it would make a difference. Then, they grabbed Sarah, followed by Ferny and Jack. My brother was next, and just like everyone before him he didn't bother to resist; he was a completely different person than the energized fighter I knew.

The hands that grabbed me were rough and gloved. Once more, they opened my back panel to disconnect my battery, and of course I didn't even think about fighting. What was left to fight for? This questioned echoed through my mind while they shut me down, sending me once more into a dreamless sleep. I didn't care if I'd ever wake up. After all, what was left to fight for?

A lot of time would pass, but eventually we found someone who would answer that question.

Too much to give up.

* * *

_End of Tape 2_


	36. From zero

**A/N: **Hi guys, welcome back, thanks for being here and thanks for your reactions to the last two chapters of Tape 2. We are now at Tape 3, the last one of the fic. As you might guess this marks the start of the FNaF 1 era, which means that we will see some new characters, among them a special someone that I'm dying to write. I'm sure you all know who he is ;)

Not a lot will happen in this chapter, but I can tell you that things will be getting more interesting as time goes on. This is just a small introduction to some new (mostly mental) challenges that the goalless kids will have to face.

I wanted to give you all another special thank you. When I started this story almost a year and five months ago reaching this point seemed like an impossible goal, something extremely far away. But we did it, and in great part it's thanks to you. I hope you enjoy the remainder of this road. And now, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 36: From zero **

I woke up with a start. My head jerked up along with my ears, right as a painfully bright light flooded my eyes, blinding me completely. After a second or two the light began to bob up and down, and I realized that it was a circle. Then, it vanished with a small click, letting me see two human faces behind it: one male and one female. I recognized the man, even more so in his characteristic purple uniform, but the woman was completely unknown. She was young, probably barely twenty, and she held a turned-off flashlight in one of her small hands. They took some steps back, both seemingly happy.

"Took longer than I expected, but it seems like everything is okay with his eyes." announced the woman with a smile, "Welcome back Bonnie."

"Great job Yin." continued Dave, showing off less enthusiasm but still looking thoroughly satisfied, "We couldn't have done it without you."

The woman shrugged as she laid down the flashlight on a long table behind both of them. "Thanks for the job. It was really fun working on these guys." The rest of the room was rather grey, except for the characteristic line of colored tiles that ran around the walls of every single Freddy's. Metal shelfs filled with spare animatronic heads and parts guarded the walls. This, combined with the small size of the room, made me feel quite cramped.

She dropped her smile after a short silence, laying an oil-stained hand on the table. "I'm really sorry about everything that happened. I basically grew up here, you know? I just hope you guys will make it through."

Dave smiled back gratefully. "Me too. So, do you have any idea where this could've come from?" He turned around sideways, picked something up from the table and held it in his hand. Angst and anger welled up in me when I realized it was TB's rose.

Yin raised her hands. "No idea. It was simply there, inside a small dent on his exoskeleton."

"Well, that's something Erik will have a hard time believing." The man stared at the flower for a few seconds while I fought the urge to stand up and rip it from his hands, then he laid it back neatly on the table. "He'll probably tell me to throw it out anyways. So, all done then?"

"All done." the woman confirmed cheerily, wiping her hands on her jeans. "Don't worry, I know you're crazy to get back to Laura, so we'll get going now."

Dave chuckled with uncharacteristic cheerfulness as he turned his head in mild embarrassment. "Uh, yeah… she's… she's quite something."

Yin grinned at his clumsy words, sticking her hands in her pockets and shaking her head. "Save it Dave. You made everything clear."

The man nodded in agreement. "Yeah… I guess you're right." He started walking towards the grey door of the room, before turning around to look at the woman. "And Yin, thanks a lot. I really mean it; we wouldn't be able to reopen if it weren't for you."

She stood next to Dave as he opened the door and shrugged once more. "My pleasure." she replied, "I know you guys can't afford a full-time technician like the guy who got fired, but give me a call anytime you need help. I loved working on them."

They both left the room to step into an open area, closing the door and leaving me alone once more. As soon as their voices and footsteps faded away I tried to stand up hastily to grab the rose, only for my body to crash down to my left by a weight that had become unfamiliar.

I was so focused on the conversation in front of me that I forgot to look at myself. My left arm was back, and the heavy weight of my head let me know that so was my face. Gingerly, I moved the fingers of my recovered arm, feeling the turning of servos and the weak buzz of flowing electricity that I had gotten so used to. The obvious suddenly came to me like a startling realization: we had been completely repaired by that woman.

For the first time in a while I felt the tiniest bit of joy, but this was cut short when I laid my new eyes on the plastic flower on the table. I held on to the wall behind me as I carefully stood up on my refurbished feet, before letting go and taking some shaky steps to the table.

I carefully picked up TB's rose and held it in my opened hand. It seemed to be a little dirtier than before. The stem was still bent and the petals were still crumbled, but it was whole nevertheless. "I'll take care of you." I whispered softly to the inanimate object, "I'll keep you safe, just like he did."

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I placed the flower inside my chest, letting it rest on a tiny screw-hole on its side. I closed the panel, holding a hand on my chest as I sat back down against the nearest wall.

"What now?" I sighed to myself in defeat.

'Aww, what's wrong Brandon?' taunted a clear voice in my head, 'Is someone feeling a little blue?'

"What do you want?" I hissed aloud through clenched teeth.

Bonnie huffed back, confident and dominant. 'Oh, I know exactly what I want, brat. I'm sure you know as well.'

I did know. "Kill, hurt, grow... Win."

'And have fun of course.' he added casually with my voice, 'What's the point if you're not having fun?' I remained silent, decided not to give him the luxury of talk. Once again he let out an annoyed huff. 'Keep quiet all you want, but you won't shut me up. Not now, not ever.'

"Leave me alone." I muttered in anger and tiredness.

'I wish I could.' was Bonnie's indifferent reply, 'But since we still are the same person, I guess we're stuck together. Shame, huh?'

"I don't want to be like you." Growling, I held my head, suddenly feeling like it was about to burst. "I won't _ever _be like you."

'Oh, but you will.' He chuckled mockingly, and I could hear his perverse and joyful smile in his voice. 'And you will love it!'

"GO AWAY!" With clenched fists I shot up on two feet, somehow expecting him to be in one of the empty heads all around me.

It was then that the grey door of the small room opened slowly and slightly. "Brandon?" A repaired Sarah stared at me with concerned eyes, peeking cautiously into the room. She finished opening the door as I sat down on the floor, burying my head in my hands.

"Who's here?" she whispered as I heard her steps approach me.

"Bonnie." I mumbled, uncovering my face. "He's stronger now Sarah. He can talk to me, and he won't shut up. Or maybe I'm just going mad." She let out a long sigh before sitting next to me. For a few seconds a heavy silence hung over our heads.

"I had the book in my hand." I whispered flatly, practically seeing everything that happened on that stormy night once again. "There were so many things I could've done. Run away. Kill Walther. Hide the book until we learned more." I shook my head. "But I didn't do anything. And now there is nothing left of them."

"I already miss Mini." she replied, staring absently at the shelf in front of us. "She was… cheery. They all were. And you and TB…" She smiled feebly. "I mean, he was hugging you all the time! We were all jealous."

"Yeah, he was." I shared her sad smile. "But now I'd be happy to just see him again." When I remembered his bright eyes I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I was too numb.

"Me too." Sarah turned her head to see me, and after a few seconds, whispered seriously "You do know there's nothing you could've done, right? No matter what you did Jack's seal would stay on that page. Even if there was a way out, we couldn't have known."

Staring back at her, I raised my shoulders. "That's what I like to think. But I still feel so... powerless."

"You're not the only one. "

We both stayed quiet for a while. Finally, I asked the question that was nagging at my mind since I woke up. "What now? Here we are, exactly like we were right after being killed. Everything we learned and did was useless. We gained some friends that made us forget about reality for a while, and we lost them. I mean, what are we even doing here?"

Sarah looked straight at me as she leaned closer. "The only option besides carrying on is giving up." she stated with disdain, "And we're _not _doing that."

"What's the difference?" I countered, a hint of anger in my defeated voice. "We lost already."

"So, you're just going to sit in this little dark room, feeling sad and sorry until nothing's left of you_.__"_ I answered with silence. "Are you sure that there's not a single thing here worth carrying on for?"

After thinking for a few seconds, I only said "I'm sure."

"What about us, then?" Sarah almost sounded hurt. "What about those promises you made to Jack? You're really going to give up on that? What happened to 'Friends till the end'?"I let out a long stream of pent-up air, trying to relieve the growing know in my throat.

Sarah didn't wait for my answer. She stood up hastily, straightened up and stretched her yellow wing-hand in front of my face. "We all feel terrible Brandon, but it's better to be miserable together." She flexed her hand impatiently, and said without joy or pain "Come now bozo, we don't have all day."

I took her hand with some reluctance and allowed her to help me get back up. "Is everyone okay?" I asked as I tried to keep my balance with the weight of my recovered arm.

She nodded. "Ferny's by the new attraction; he and Jack were really worried about you."

"And what about Sean?" Sarah lowered her eyes uncomfortably for a moment as she thought of an answer to my question. But her uneasiness only made me worry more. "What's wrong with him?" I asked in concern.

"I don't know." she replied, helpless. "He pretends and says that he's alright, but he's simply not. I've never seen him like that. Right after our murders he was the most optimistic of us, the strongest. He helped us carry on. But now..." Her voice trailed off and she raised her shoulders. "He's not himself."

Those words hit me like a freight train, and I wondered if I had done this to my brother. Guilt began to take a hold on me once more, when Sarah nudged my shoulder as if trying to wake me up. "You're his brother Brandon, he needs you. Please, talk to him."

Sighing, I turned my head aside for a moment. Before answering I took a moment to feel the tiny weight of TB's rose in my chest, and I felt soothed by its presence. "I'll try Sarah." I answered, decided to put my grief aside for a moment. I could always cry later.

* * *

"So, how long did we stay out this time?" I asked Ferny as we walked with Sarah across the familiar-yet-strange dining area, our colored eyes the only sources of light. "Three months? Six?"

"A year and two months." he answered flatly, "Welcome to January 1989, and to the new Freddy's."

He stopped for a moment, giving me the chance to inspect my surroundings. Long dining tables were already set up to my right, but they still had to be covered with mantels, making the room even grayer. Behind them, twin hallways led off to a small room, whose shape I could barely make out in the dark. To my left was the show stage. Tacky, fake wooden clouds and a brick wall formed a miserable excuse for a background, and I cringed inwardly at the thought of performing once again. But the biggest addition of all was a star-spangled purple curtain that closed off a small, circular stage.

"This looks like the old Freddy's." I whispered to no one in particular, "The one where we were murdered."

Sarah nodded. "They changed a lot though. It seems smaller to me."

I shared her feeling, but it took me a while to see why. The door that led to the old arcade room was gone, the counter where Jeremy used to work now resting right in front of where it used to be. Opposite to it, another room had been covered up, and when I realized which one I felt both relief and spite toward the company.

"They covered up the arcades and the private party room." stated Ferny flatly, almost reading my thoughts.

"They hid away the place where we were killed." I said slowly as the bloody images of that rainy Tuesday passed through my mind. Back then, they still tormented me.

A silent minute of spontaneous mourning passed. Then, I asked "Where are they?"

Ferny answered by quietly turning around and walking toward one of the dark hallways. Sarah and me followed him between the tables, and arrived at the hall farthest from us. Jack was sitting on the floor against the grey wall of the corridor, idly tracing circles on the checkered tiles below, when he lifted his head to look at me with a hint surprise and happiness in his eyes. I couldn't hold back a little smile when I noticed that he had been fixed up nicely as well.

But before I could greet him my eyes went over the other figure slumped down against the wall, blending in with the darkness of the back of the hall, his face hidden between his crossed arms. My smile disappeared as I walked toward him.

Sean didn't move when I stopped in front of him and slowly sat down on the floor. Crossing my legs, I whispered "Hi brother."

His dimly-lit blue eyes kept staring sideways for a moment, away from me. Then he suddenly turned his head to me, as if my words needed a few seconds to reach him . "Hey private." he murmured in a low voice, trying to fake joy.

"I wanted to talk to you." I shoved myself closer to him. "I'm so sorry about everything, I should've told y-"

"Don't talk about it." he cut in suddenly to my unpleasant surprise. Sean was never one to interrupt people. "Everything is fine. Let's just leave it all behind, alright?"

Completely puzzled, I stayed silent for a while as I tried to read his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Sean shook his head a bit, and answered casually "Exactly what I said. Let's just forget about everything that happened and everyone we lost."

"Brother, we can't do that to the Toys." I replied, slightly unnerved by his words. "That's not fair to them."

"It wasn't fair when you lied to me about Mom, but it happened anyways."

A fresh pang of guilt hit my chest when I heard his words. "I… I thought you said that everything was alright." I mumbled weakly.

Sean forced a strange chuckle, and replied in one breath "Of course nothing's alright Don, but that's not what I like to believe. I want to think that there is still hope, even though there isn't; that you didn't lie to me, even though you did; that we never lost the Toys…"

"But we did." Now it was my turn to interrupt. "This isn't you brother. You never run away from problems, you solve them, and then you teach me how to do the same."

"We can't solve this one Don." he hissed back with sudden coldness. "If you think logically, that means that we'll never be happy again. Let's ask Ferny, he likes to think logically." My brother turned to the slender red figure, then asked "Am I right, nerd?" Fer bowed down his head as he tapped his foot in mild irritation.

"I'll take that as a yes." continued Sean, "But we can at least pretend to be happy, right? Can't we just please make-believe that we're okay?"

Our little group stayed silent for a while. At last, I murmured "I think I'd be less worried if you just hated me."

"Why would I hate you private?" asked Sean sarcastically as he stood up, smiling falsely while he added with exaggerated carelessness "After all, everything will be okay!" We followed him with our eyes as he walked briskly past us, leaving the hall and navigating around the tables to go back to the tiny backstage room.

"What if that doesn't work?!" I called out strongly, standing up but remaining in my place. "What if my feelings are too strong?! If you walk away from me, who will I turn to when I need you?!"

Sean stood still in front of the grey door of the backstage. Without turning around to see me, he answered in an emotionless voice "Keep those feelings down, private. Keep them down until they die." Without another word he entered the room and shut the door behind him, leaving us all startled and silent.


	37. Discord

**A/N: **Good night guys, and welcome back. I know it's technically not Sunday (it's Monday 1 AM for me), but I had some small issues with my Internet and I only managed to get it sorted out now; I actually finished this chap like three hours ago.

As always, thank you all for your invaluable support through PMs and reviews. The first exams are beginning to loom over the horizon for me, so my apologies in advance for any eventual delays. As of this chapter...

Guys, I promise you things will get better, but that will _not_ be happening right now. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this one. And as always, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 37: Discord**

Sarah, Sean and me were forced to bow as all of the eight children that came to the reopening clapped for us, smiling with blissful ignorance at the show's ending. Their parents were sitting farther away from us, eyeing us warily, as if we would jump off the stage and hurt one of their kids in any way. With a twitching hand and greyer skin, Erik stood against the wall that separated the two twin corridors, disappointment and slight irritation visibles in his tired eyes. I was surprised as well; although it was obvious that the pizzeria would never stay afloat with this few clients, I was expecting nobody to come.

A few minutes after the last child left, Dave stepped out of the left hallway with big steps, looking much more carefree than his boss. We were still perched on top of the stage as we had been throughout the whole day; the little bit of free-roam that we had in the first weeks after our murders was now a distant luxery.

The headguard inspected us thoughtfully as he walked up to the manager. "Upgrading them with that computer system was a pretty good idea." he began in a casual tone, "We don't need to pay anyone to control them with that remote now. And everything looks pretty good in the security office. I feel like this new system gives us much more visibility."

A disheartened smile appeared on Erik's face. "Let's hope that's enough to keep our broken asses afloat." he grunted, "I was betting on more people showing up."

"They'll come." was Dave's casual reply, "We just need time."

"Will we still be in business when this 'time' comes?" muttured Erik, his fingers twitching anxiously again. "By the way, are you sure we need a night guard tonight? We can barely afford to keep the light on as it is."

Dave shrugged. "You know the law Erik, we have no option. After everything that's happened we're lucky to even be open." He turned to look at us once more. "And so are they."

"I thought you liked those older models." questioned the manager.

"Me too, but in the last place they were walking around at night, even though they were supposedly off." Dave finally turned his gaze from us to look at Erik. "Don't you think that's a little weird?"

The other man raised his shoulders. "Maybe they just needed a good fix. Shame about Pirate's Cove though." Both turned their heads toward the purple curtain that covered the small side stage, an 'Out of Order' sign already placed in front of it.

"Yin said it would be easy to fix up Foxy, but there was no way to do it without a new chest piece." said the headguard, "Problem is, they don't make them anymore."

"Yeah... I wonder how he was damaged in the first place." added Erik while Dave gave him a little nod, pretending to be as ignorant as him. "Anyways, let's go. I'm dying for a smoke."

When the manager started to walk speedily to the door, a still-standing Dave added "Funny that you say that, because those things will kill you some day."

"But not today!" replied the other man smugly as he opened the front door and stepped out of the building.

Moments later Dave began to follow him, but he stopped halfway to the exit. He turned around to look at us with crossed arms, a certain distrust and sternness in his stand, before fishing out a small remote control from one of his uniform's pockets. With some reluctance the man pressed a red button, and I forced back a sigh of relief as the strain that kept us in place throughout the day finally eased away.

"I'm only doing this to make sure you don't rust." whispered Dave seriously, "Don't give me trouble again."

He finally left the building after that, leaving us all in free-roam mode. I immediately stretched my arms above my head, enjoying the smoothness of my well-lubricated joints. Sarah did the same by twisting her body sideways, making her motors give out a low whir. However, Sean stayed still, his eyes still staring forwards blankly.

"What do you want to do brother?" I began in a talkative voice, trying to break the tense silence.

He sighed, before saying with that same fake joy "Whatever you want private. I sure _love_ playing games before becoming a monster and killing someone else."

Sarah and I stared back at him, stunned. "C'mon bozo, we just want to have a bit of fun." she said casually.

"Because that makes everything better." scuffed back Sean as he turned around to face her. "Let's have a bit of fun before someone dies."

"Maybe this guard will make it out alright?" replied Sarah, not sounding too convinced herself.

"Maybe. Then they'll hire another one, and if he manages to survive they'll get another one. How long before one of them runs out of luck?" Sean paused to give Sarah a chance to answer; she didn't. He then said "And there is no way to end this. So again, what difference does it make? We'll never be happy again!"

"What's your problem?" I interrupted harshly. Sean immediately turned to look at me in surprise. "You said that we should never give up, that we should never let this change who we are and what we are to each other. I can't believe you can talk like that. You just broke everything you said!"

"What's _my _problem?" He pointed at himself sarcastically with a round brown finger. "I wasn't the one that lied for a year and a half! I wasn't the one that knew about the puppet but decided not to say anything!"

"I didn't know what he would do if I told you who he was. I was trying to keep you and the Toys safe!"

"And in the end that worked out wonderfully, didn't it?"

Those words cut through the air and hit me like a whip, but I was decided not to break down under my feelings. I wasn't going to be the crying baby brother that he had known any longer.

In the little pause that followed before my next reply, Sarah looked at me and at Sean helplessly, lost for words. At the same time I heard the sound of a curtain that's pulled, followed by metallic footsteps.

"Guys, stop." said Ferny calmly as he stopped in front of the stage. "I can imagine you're both mad, but please…"

"I was doing what I thought was right." I hissed at my brother, cutting off Ferny, "But you're not doing _anything _right now, and it seems like you don't want to do anything again."

"Don't you understand what I just said?" replied Sean with more irritation, "It doesn't matter anymore! Nothing we do will make a difference! What's the point of fighting and trying to be happy if we'll all disappear at the end?! Nothing matters if we'll never see Mom and Dad again!"

"We should at least try to make something out of this!" was my answer, "Do you have any idea how stupid and sad you sound right now? Do you think Mom and Dad would be happy if they saw you like this? You're shaming them!"

He recoiled at my words, his eyes visibly hurt. But then they filled up once more with the same anger that fueled our fight. "Don't you _dare _use them against me Brandon." He growled through closed teeth. "You have no right after what you did to Mom by lying about her."

"But you can make me feel bad about lying, right? I already said I was sorry you scumbag!"

"Saying 'I'm sorry' over and over won't make this okay, private! Nothing will!"

"Then why didn't you say so?! Why did you hide away like a coward from me yesterday?!"

"I didn't want to see you, you idiot!"

"And why is that, brother?!"

"Because I don't care about you anymore!"

For a couple of seconds there was no movement or sound in the large, darkened room. Sean and me only stared at each other intently, his eyes slowly widening and draining of anger when he realized what he just said. I tried to hide the pain from him, show him I didn't care, have the last word with a quick and snarky answer; but I simply turned around and walked away from the stage with a lowered head as I tried not to burst in wails, ignoring the dumbstruck gazes on Ferny's and Sarah's eyes.

"Don, wait." I heard him call out behind me as I scurried away between the long tables. "Please. I'm… I didn't mean it." Without looking back or slowing my pace I entered the west hall, feeling how his voice became more distant. "I wasn't thinking clearly! Don!" I jerked open one of the flimsy wooden doors of the office, stepped inside and slammed it shut. My eyes quickly adapted to the blackness of the tiny room, and I let myself slide down against the back wall, covering my eyes as I sat on the floor and sobbed silently.

Everything was quiet and dark for a few minutes, until I heard my own soft, slow and venomous voice all around me. 'He hates you now.' I buried my face in my crossed arms, trying to somehow escape from him. 'He was lying when he said he didn't mean it.'

"Shut up." I mumbled weakly, "P-Please, leave me alone."

'He will keep doing this to you Brandon. He will never love you again, and you know it.' Shaking my head, I tried to deny his words that were slowly inching themselves into my mind like worms. 'But it doesn't have to be like that.'

"What… what do you mean?" I asked as my sadness faded away into a strange emptiness.

'Show him that you're no longer a little baby he can boss around.' whispered Bonnie tentatively, 'We can hurt him just as much as he hurt you. Let me help.' I stayed silent for a while, feeling how he filled that emptiness with anger and spite.

Bonnie gave out a short laugh. 'That's right, don't fight me. Just let me make you feel better.' With a clouded mind, I obeyed him, enjoying the false sense of strength and control that he gave me. My mouth curved ever so slightly into a smile.

"That's better." he and I said at the same time, forming an unnatural chorus of cold voices. "Stand up." My body obeyed and soon I was up on two feet. "Good boy. Now, let's go."

Slowly and mechanically, I went to the door and opened it, just to see a tall golden figure looking at me with worry. "Don't l-let him do this." whispered Jack urgently, "P-please."

I sighed in annoyance, before saying slowly "Get out of my way. I want to do this."

"You're l-lying." he said, visibly struggling with every word. "He's m-making you think t-that, but you d-don't."

"Didn't you hear what I said?" I hissed, taking a few threatening steps toward him, "Get out of my way or I will kick you out of my way."

With slight fear in his pinpoint eyes, he shook his head slowly. "Come back, p-please. He wants to t-take you away. Don't l-let him."

I tightened my fist, readying myself for the first blow, when he suddenly leapt forwards and put his hand on my arm, shaking it roughly. "Come back, now!"

It was like someone suddenly woke me up from a dream. I looked all around me, eyes wide open in surprise and confusion. For a moment, I wondered how I got there in the first place, until little fragments of memories started to build up in my mind to a clear image of the last few minutes.

Jack pulled back his hand from my arm, and asked quietly "B-Better?"

I sighed before looking back at him. "A little bit." With slow movements I sat down on the tiles of the hallway, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"I know you d-didn't want t-to do that." Jack sat down next to me. "When you t-two were fighting, I s-saw something d-dark all around you. I was afraid he would d-do what he did."

"It wasn't him." I muttered dryly as I turned my head to him. "I let him take over. It was me." He stayed quiet, knowing I was right. "One day I'll really hurt someone, I know. Is this really all there is now?"

Shrugging, Jack stared solidly at the floor in front of him. "M-Maybe there's another way out."

"I hope you're right." Pushing myself against the hall's wall, I rested my hand on the back of my head and scratched it idly as I thought about Sean. It wasn't our first fight; we were brothers after all. But as I remembered the anger that we felt for each other and that still lingered deep inside me, I knew that I had lost his trust, and he lost mine.

Maybe it would be better if we stayed apart for a while.

As I pondered my conclusion, I noticed the lack of sounds from around me and from inside me; a somewhat pleasant silence reigned over the dark building. My eyes went over to Jack, whose finger slowly glided over the polished tiles in circles, and I realized something.

Whispering, I told him "You're keeping Bonnie away. When you shook my arm he let go of me, and I haven't heard him since."

Jack's finger stopped and he turned his head to stare at me for few seconds, before looking back at the floor. "I c-can stay if you want." he said casually.

I smiled in gratefulness. "Thank you. I… I really need some silence right now."

He gave me exactly that while he stayed by my side, tracing his circles on the floor as a clock traced his own somewhere in the office, telling about the hours that passed and brought us closer to the dreaded midnight.

* * *

There were two kinds of sleep for us. There's mechanical sleep: being shut-down like a machine by an employee or by that hungry monster in your head, which is more similar to being dead or comatose; a dreamless state where you know nothing of yourself, and when you wake up you feel like no time has passed at all.

Then, there's the rare human sleep: the closing of your eyes, perhaps some snoring and movements, maybe even a dream or two. When you wake up you know time has passed, because you feel different, mostly better.

I woke up from this second sleep, slightly surprised that I had slept at all. Jack was curled up in front of me, black eyes devoid of any light. Intrigued by the silence that lingered on I stood up and shook his shoulder. Two white dots of light immediately appeared in those empty eyes.

"I think we need to go buddy." I whispered anxiously as he looked up at me blearily, "I don't know how long we have before midnight."

Just then, the silence was cut off by the creak of an opening door seemingly right behind us, followed by a terrified scream and an inhuman screech. It was past midnight, my friends and my brother had been taken over, and they were in the office.

I quickly pulled myself up on two feet, and as Jack did the same I put a stretched finger in front of my mouth: stay quiet. He nodded and followed me as we crept quietly back to the dining area, when another desperate and chilling cry from the man echoed through the darkness, followed by a door that's slammed open. I turned around and saw the unknown guard's head sticking out of the room, eyes wide open in panic, droplets of sweat reflecting the multicolored lights in the office; the glowing eyes of the animatronics.

For one second we made eye contact, allowing me to feel his fear. Then, a massive yellow hand grabbed his face and tore him effortlessly back into the cramped office as he let out a muffled scream. With a heavy heart I turned around and sneaked along with Jack toward the dining area.

"Where are you Bonnie?!" Chica's cheery and excited voice rung through the room, followed by a short giggle. "You're missing out on all the fun, doofus! This one has spirit!"

When Jack and I were in front of the stage the inevitable happened: a sharp and painful burning in my chest made me gasp in pain as I leaned on a dining table for support. At the same time, dark laughs and painful growls escaped from the office.

Jack came closer to me as I fell on my knees, fighting to push back the cold, creeping darkness that was taking over my mind. "G-Go." I hissed as I lifted my head up to look at him.

"I c-can help." he stuttered back in haste, "I… I h-held him back t-today, and at t-the other p-place, maybe I…"

"Go now… or we will tear you apart." I growled lowly, making it painfully clear to Jack that I was losing control. My hand slipped from the table and my body doubled over as his footsteps faded away in front of me and new ones approached me from behind. The noise in my mind grew to a powerful roar as I lost control over my twitching body and fell flat on the floor. I closed my eyes and finally gave up.

After a few seconds I opened them slowly, and smiled as I regained full control over myself. Unmistakable heavy footsteps became louder as I stood up and flexed my hands, before turning around and seeing three sets of glowing eyes against the black backdrop of the darkened dining area. I only noticed the limp figure that Chica was dragging across the floor when they were closer to me.

Huffing in disapproval, I crossed my arms at her, and muttered "Don't tell me that you didn't wait for me before killing him."

She giggled in amusement and shook her head before raising the bruised man by his arm, showing him off to me. "It was tempting, but no. We had a bit of fun though; he put up a good fight for a human." Her smile widened with pride. "He sounded so funny when I broke his arm, almost like a little mouse."

"Should we get going?" interrupted Foxy, "I'm getting impatient over here."

"That's two of us." I added with enthusiasm.

Freddy sighed, closing his cold blue eyes in mild annoyance as he mumbled "You're so impatient. Fine then, let's go." The man squirmed uselessly in protest while he was dragged to the grey door of the backstage. When he tried to speak, his words fell out into incoherent groans of pain, making me wonder just how many hits he took.

The headless suit was sitting innocently on the grey room's long metal table, in the perfect position for the final goal of our short game. As we stepped inside with our bruised prize, our eyes bathed the small space with an eerie mix of colored glows.

Chica threw the man on the table, next to his soon-to-be murder weapon and tomb. We hovered closer and watched attentively in morbid delight.

"What's your name?" she cooed in apparent sweetness after the guard had recovered his breath, but he only managed to get out a weak, panicked groan. With anger in her eyes Chica grabbed a hold of his left arm and twisted it roughly; the man opened his mouth and shut his eyes in a mute scream. "It's rude to ignore someone when they ask you something." continued Chica as she let go of the guard. "Let's try again." She took a deep breath, and repeated with that same sweet tone: "What's your name?"

"M-Mark." panted the man weakly, his broken voice barely audible. "Please… p-please…"

Chica rolled her eyes. "That's enough begging, Mark." A vicious smile then replaced her annoyed grimace as she grabbed him by his neck and lifted him above the suit's opening. "I want you to scream for me now."

Her wish was granted.

Mark let out a blood-curling scream when she crushed his body into the suit, pushing his chest deep into the nest of twisted metal and sharp plastic until his head and feet were sticking out of the opening. The man's screams began to die down, but they returned with a vengeance when Chica slammed all of him into the suit with blow after blow of her fist, smiling with glee. The sound of metal battering meat soon combined with the wet noise of tearing flesh and cracking bones to form a beautiful symphony.

Soon, the drops of blood leaking from the suit's joints turned into little streams that snaked across the brown fur. The viscous red liquid pooled on the table, reached its edges and dripped steadily unto the floor like tiny waterfalls. And as the man let out his last groans of pain, we laughed in joy at our victory.

Good times were coming.


	38. Lost time

**A/N: **Happy Friday guys, and welcome back. This chapter is slightly different from what you've been getting lately: it's meant to set the stage for the start of the real FNaF 1 era and the reappearance of certain someone from tape 2. I wonder who...

I know we've been getting a lot of drama in the fic, but hopefully some parts of this chap and the next one will be little 'breathers'. Don't forget that Sister Location is only one week away! I'll talk about it in more detail after its release.

As always, your honest opinions are highly appreciated. Have a good weekend guys, and happy reading.

* * *

**Chapter 38: Lost time**

A heavy headache awoke me from my uneasy slumber. Through my cloudy eyes, I managed to make out the grey shelves and walls of the backstage room, and as I slowly turned my throbbing head I spotted four familiar silhouettes, along with a fifth one sitting limply on the metal table in front of me: the blood-covered Freddy suit.

Sarah was sitting in the back of the room, holding her lowered head with a red hand. Her dim purple eyes were locked on the small puddles of dark, dried blood under the table, painfully aware of what had happened. Ferny sat by her side, his back straighter against the wall than hers and his eyes locked unto the low ceiling. When he noticed that I was awake he turned them to me for a moment, his expression neutral, before lifting them up once more and sighing deeply.

"Don?" I instinctively turned my head for a brief moment to see Sean a few feet to my left, sitting against the wall in the same tired and defeated pose as everyone else. When he opened his mouth to speak I turned my head around and stood up, before walking slowly to Jack, who sat close by the door with his back turned to us. Right then, I really didn't want to talk to my brother.

It wasn't until now that I noticed the red patches that covered Jack's arms and back. Worried, I knelt behind him and called out his name, but I received no answer. I raised my hand to touch his shoulder, hesitated for just a moment and finally gave him a soft tap. He almost jumped from the scare, quickly turning his head to inspect me with frightened eyes, but he relaxed a bit when he realized it was me.

"Sorry." I whispered. "I didn't want to scare you."

Sniffing, he nodded as turned his head away from me. "I know."

"What happened?" I asked, pointing at his red-tainted arm.

That same distressed expression appeared in his eyes once more. Jack took a deep breath before mumbling in a low, shaky voice "Do y-you remember when y-you told me t-to hide?" I gave him a small nod. "I c-came here… and went under the t-table. Under t-the suit." A chill went through me when I imagined what he went through. He lowered his shoulders and closed his eyes forcefully, but before I could say anything Jack turned his head rapidly to glare at Sarah with burning white eyes. "You k-killed him!" he yelled out with unusual anger, "You g-gave him so much pain!"

"I know." whispered Sarah flatly, not raising her eyes for a moment.

Jack clenched his fists. "You… y-you even enjoyed it! You c-crushed him! I was c-covered in blood under the t-table, but you j-just wanted more b-blood and pain a-and screams and…"

Ferny suddenly lowered his gaze right at Jack. "Of course she did, but she couldn't help it! Can't you see she's sorry?! Do you know how it feels to kill someone?!" A second or two of tense silence followed, then Ferny raised his head, closed his eyes and muttered bitterly "I do know. And it feels pretty bad."

I expected Sean to say something, but he sat still with his arms crossed and his eyes turned toward Sarah and Fer. At the same time Jack slowly turned his head around as his eyes dimmed back to normal.

"Ferny's right." I told him, "I would've done the same thing. And… you would've done the same, if you didn't have a special seal."

The remaining anger in Jack's eyes turned into slight shame. "I'm sorry." he whispered without looking at anyone, "But… there was j-just so much b-blood. I don't l-like blood."

"Nobody does." I replied, "The management will probably hire someone to clean all this up. Maybe even the same three that got rid of our bodies."

Jack shook his head. "I d-don't want them to t-touch me again. But this feels… d-dirty." He remained silent for a while, apparently thinking of something, before looking up at me and stuttering shyly "Is it o-okay if you… c-can you please…"

"Help you get cleaned up?" I asked. Jack lowered his head and nodded timidly. "Sure. Let's go before anyone gets here."

He mouthed a 'Thank you' as we stood up and walked to the door. I threw a quick glance at the dark room with my friends and my brother before leaving with Jack; none of them were looking at us. A grey early morning greeted us through the window next to the front door when we stepped into the dining area, hiding away the sun. After taking a few steps toward the kitchen, I heard a door open behind me. With some reluctance I turned around lazily to see my brother walking up to us, his eyes unreadable.

"Please go to the kitchen Jack." I whispered as he stopped with me.

"But…"

"Just go."

Jack stared at both of us for a second or two, before turning around and walking away into the east hall. Meanwhile, Sean had stopped a few feet in front of me, at the exact maximum distance you can talk to someone without raising your voice.

"You shouldn't walk away from someone if they want to speak to you." he started in a serious tone. "At least give an excuse."

"Believe it or not, I don't like to lie." I answered curtly.

My brother nodded slowly. "That's good."

A short silence followed, then he let out a small sigh as he lowered his blue eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday Don." he mumbled, "I was mad and it just slipped out of my mouth."

I could've said yes. But the darkness of the room, Jack's absence and the lingering anger inside of me awoke something I never felt for him before.

Resentment.

"It sounded really honest to me." was my dry reply, "Are you sure you're sorry?"

He looked up at me. "Yes. I was mad, I still am, but I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "I really want to believe you, brother. But I can't. Not right now."

Sean raised his shoulders in a helpless gesture. "When will you believe me, then?" he questioned, slightly upset, "I'm just tired of this Don. This is not what Mom and Dad would've wanted."

"But that doesn't matter anymore, right?" I raised my voice. "You said that yourself: nothing matters anymore if we will never see them again. Even I don't matter to you, and I'm your brother."

"I said I'm sorry."

"Then why should you matter to me?" I took a step forwards, trying to hide my shaky voice. A baffled look appeared in Sean's eyes. "Why should you matter to me?"

He looked sideways in apparent sadness for a moment, his head slightly lowered. "I was so damn stupid when I said that this would never change who we are." he mumbled coldly as he stared back at me. "The little brother I love so much would never say something like that."

"Right back at you, Sean."

"You're changing."

"So are you."

A heavy silence filled the room, accentuating the distance between us as we glared at each other dead in the eyes. After a while, Sean shrugged and said indifferently "I know you don't want to be here with me. Just go. No one's forcing you to stay here." He paused for a moment, his eyes taking on a slightly softer glow. "But if you ever want to talk to me again, I'm waiting."

Nodding in acceptance, I turned around and started to walk slowly toward the kitchen. "Goodbye, brother."

I heard a soft mechanic whir as he too turned around and walked in the opposite direction, back to the backstage room. "Goodbye, private."

* * *

"Stupid thing."

I cursed the small transistor radio when it refused to turn on once again. Sighing in irriration, I turned the square, grey object on its back and gave a few rough taps to the covered battery slots. The thing immidately buzzed and sputtered out a soft static, and I smiled at the tiny victory. I raised my head to scan the dark dining area quicky, before spotting a golden figure sitting comfortably on the elevated show stage.

"It's working now." Jack immediately raised his head when I called out to him. "Where do you want to go?" That question was more of a formality. After all, he chose the same place night after night. Of course, those were only the nights when _they _weren't in control.

He silently pointed at the west hall and stared at me, expecting my approval. "You know I don't mind!" was my light-hearted answer, "Anywhere is fine by me." That wasn't completely true. For reasons I can't quite explain, I preferred the west hall as well.

Jack pushed himself off the stage and followed me to the narrow corridor. "We should ask your cousin for some new b-batteries next time." he began causally as he walked up by my side.

"I'll try not to forget." I answered as I tried to tune in the right station with a massive round finger. "Let's hope he can make it." We reached the office and sat next to one of its massive steel doors while I finished tuning in our station. Wheezing, I stretched out my legs and put the radio between us as it played some generic soft pop.

"You should talk to your brother." said Jack suddenly as he casually traced a few circles by his side.

I shrugged. "Later, when the chance pops up."

He raised his eyes to look at me with slight reproach, and replied matter-of-factly "That's what you've been saying f-for the past six years."

"Five." I rebutted rapidly, swallowing down the slight guilt I felt. "Well, five and a half... and a bit more."

With the help of my eight fingers, I counted the years and months to arrive at a more precise answer. If this place opened up in February 1989, and last time I checked it was late September 1994, a total of five years and almost eight months had passed since we woke up in this particular establishment. I wish I could say that interesting, dramatic or great things happened in all that time, but they never did. We had little moments of joy and bigger moments of loss. Every time a night guard died by our hands, another piece of us died with him, and _they _grew stronger.

Even so, each one of us tried to give all that lost time meaning in one way or another, and thanks to Jeremy's occasional gifts and visits we managed to stay right outside the grip of insanity and ignore the voices in our heads. Even if my cousin would never be the same, he still tried to help as much as he could.

Sarah loved to read art magazines, and could easily stare at a single page of color and beauty for many minutes. The little radio by my side was a prized possession we both shared, but tonight was my turn. Every once in a while I caught her sketching a teenage coquette with curly golden hair and freckled cheeks, but she always threw her drawings away before anyone could really look at them. It was still pretty obvious to me that she was drawing the girl she could've been.

Unsurprisingly, Ferny remained a nerd. He must've kept a few stacks of science magazines, National Geographics and novels hidden somewhere in the aborted Pirate's Cove. His knowledge grew faster than his years, and his ability with mechanics came in handy many times. Ironically, he never fixed up his damaged chest. I envied his Pirate Cove in a way. Since it never opened, he was the only one that truly had a place of his own. Maybe that's the real reason why he never repaired himself.

Sean and I never returned to what we used to be. We didn't hate each other; we simply preferred not to be in each other's company for too long. I wonder what went through his head during those years. Even though he went along well with Ferny, Sarah and sometimes even Jack, he was much more quiet and introverted than before. I tried not to think about how much I missed him.

I wouldn't have made it past the first year without Jack. He knew that Bonnie was very aggressive to me, so he stayed by my side to keep him at bay. However, his company did much more than that: it reminded me that I wasn't alone. Even though I hated the fact that he was trapped with us, I was thankful for having him as a friend. Together, we developed an unexpected taste that helped us kill a few hours on these calm nights: radio shows and dramas.

"Hey, it's starting." Jack's words called me back to the present, and I scooted myself closer to the radio as a familiar jingle rung around us. Violin slides, church bells and wolf howls invoked cliché, Halloween-esque images of gothic castles and misty graveyards. It's funny how we, who were technically dead, enjoyed listening to a talk show about supposedly-real ghost stories.

"Good evening listeners, and welcome to another episode of Real Fear." The host's voice was calm, deep and steady yet lively. He sounded more like a narrator than the interviewer he was. "I'm Richard Gonzales, and tonight we have a very special program for you." Another wolf howl was heard when he paused, followed by pre-recorded evil laughter. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. Most of the time, this show entertained me with its cheesy format and cheesier 'true' stories. In all the time we had listened to it, none of the guests managed to scare me with their tales. Tonight would be different.

"Now, for the past four years we have heard _real fear_ from real people all over Texas. But I promise you that this week's story is different from everything you know."

"He always says that." I scoffed. Jack nodded absent-mindedly with his eyes focused on the radio, as if he was watching TV instead.

"Howard, tonight's guest, is sitting right next to me in the studio. He drove here all the way from Fort Worth just to be with us tonight. Thank you, Howard."

"I-It's nothing." The voice that replied was young, male and nervous. I could almost see the sweaty teenager in front of the microphone.

"Since he's not supposed to say what he's about to tell us all, Howard is not using his real name. That's also why he's not talking through the phone, like most of our guests. That's all right, isn't it Howard?"

"Yes. That's… that's right."

"All good then. Now, you said that you wanted to talk to us about… Freddy Fazbear's Pizza?"

My ears rose up in surprise. Jack's eyes brightened ever so slightly as he leaned closer to the radio.

"That's right Richard." Howard's voice suddenly took a more secure, angry tone. "A while ago, I took a job there as a night guard. I knew about the rumors surrounding that restaurant, but I didn't listen to them. I thought that all those tales about the place being haunted were nonsense." He paused for a moment, before mumbling spitefully "I wish I had listened."

"Does this have anything to do with the disappearances?" The host sounded genuinely intrigued.

"What do you mean?"

"As you may know, twelve night guards have disappeared since that particular place opened up in '89." I tried to swallow down the knot in my throat, unable to believe there had been so many deaths. "I'm guessing that your story has to do with those disappearances."

"I thought they were only two or three, not twelve." admitted Howard uneasily. "But, I don't think they disappeared like the company says. They were _murdered, _right there."

"By who, Howard?"

The guest took a deep breath. "I know this will sound crazy. Hell, I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." His voice went down to a near whisper. "They're the mascots Richard, the animatronics. They are the ones killing the night guards."

A chill coursed through my body as both men stayed silent for a few seconds. "This is bad." I whispered to Jack, whose eyes darted up slightly towards mine. "If anyone takes that seriously, the company will scrap us."

"You are saying that the animatronics killed twelve people, Howard?" To my slight relief, the host sounded slightly doubtful himself.

"Like I said, I _know _it's hard to believe." The other man raised his voice. "But those things were moving on their own, Richard! They came to my office, tried to get inside, and when I closed the doors they kept banging at them! After the night ended I simply walked up to the manager and quit. I didn't give a damn that they wouldn't pay me, and I don't give a damn about the confidentiality agreement I'm breaking. Why did those things want to get inside that office so badly, huh? They were after me!"

"Howard, are you sure they were not experiencing a technical issue?" questioned the host calmly.

"Goddammit, were you listening?" hissed the former guard. "Those things are _alive_, they're possessed!"

"Hmm… interesting." The serene host went back to the same tone and sentences used in all other interviews. "What makes you believe that those mascots are truly possessed?"

"I did some research, and uncovered some nasty things surrounding that company." replied Howard in a more leveled tone, "Five kids were murdered in '86, and the main suspect killed himself." I shook my head, frustrated by the fact that everyone still believed Walther's cover-up.

"That same year, the company closed up their first place. Apparently, people were complaining about a stench coming out of the animatronics. I believe that the bodies of those children were hidden inside of them, and their souls managed to possess the robots. Now, they seek revenge and try to kill anyone that's an employee, just like an employee killed them_. _They've become vengeful killers who pretend to be normal during the day, only to murder innocent guards at night, and the company's covering everything up. Those children lost themselves to revenge, and now they're bigger monsters than the man who killed them. They've…"

Jack almost jumped up in fright when my fist crushed the radio, sending shards of plastic and loose bolts scattering across the floor.

"Vengeful killers?" I whispered coldly, my eyes focused on the remains of the radio. "Bigger monsters than the one who killed us? You don't know _anything.__"_ My other hand tightened into a fist as I breathed heavily with anger. "You don't know what we've been through, and now you want to tell everyone about us? Lie about us?!" Slowly, I felt how the wrath that I constantly try to keep down flowed through me. "You couldn't even last more than one night, coward." A familiar heat bloomed in my chest. "I should've killed you when I had the chance. I should've ripped you apart, crush you, make you suffer like those other twelve." A low, soft chuckle escaped from my throat as I grinned in pleasure. "Maybe I should've ripped your tongue out, so you could never lie again as you choked up on your blood. That would be…"

A hand shook my shoulder roughly, pulling me back into reality. I lifted my head to see Jack's worried eyes right in front of mine, before saying in horror "That… would be beautiful. That's what I was going to say." Sighing, I leaned back on the wall as he pulled his golden hand away from my shoulder, and inspected the remains of our precious radio and Jack's worried expression for a few seconds. "It happened again, right?"

He nodded slowly, and said "Don't feel bad about it. It was him, n-not you."

"I really wish I could still believe that buddy." I mumbled as I stared blankly at the wall in front of me. "Every time I get angry enough he comes out. I try to control myself, to stay calm no matter what. I take deep breaths to clear my mind. But sometimes I can't, and before I know it he's taken over me."

"I'm sorry." said Jack, "I wish I could do s-something more.

"You're already doing enough as it is. Thanks for pulling me back, by the way."

Shrugging, Jack turned his head back at me. "Don't worry about it." He then turned his eyes to the shattered plastic and fractured circuitry, round ears slightly droopy. "But, we'll have t-to wait a long time for another one."

I sighed as I stood up, stretching my body to start up my servos. "Sarah's going to kill me."

As we walked back to the Dining Area, the light-hearted mood that Jack managed to give me melted away to reveal an uncomfortable truth. If the story behind Freddy's, or at least part of it, was to spread around as urban legends, then the final closure of the restaurant would arrive much sooner than expected. As optimistic as I tried to be, in that moment I only saw two possible endings: we would either be scrapped by the bankrupt company to become Shadows, or we would stay in these bodies long enough to become monsters. The only question now, was what would happen first.


	39. Familiar faces

**A/N: **Welcome back guys, hope you had a fantastic Halloween. Thanks for your patience once again.

Now, this is quite a different chapter that introduces (and reintroduces) two characters. One was important before, one will be later on. Word of warning: this chap is almost entirely dialogue, so don't expect a lot of action. But don't worry though: there will be blood and violence soon enough. I know we all miss that ;)

As always, happy reading! And don't forget to read the A/N at the end. It's there for a good reason...

* * *

**Chapter 39: Familiar faces**

It was a quarter over eight at night, a few weeks after the radio incident. Only the light of the almost-empty Dining Area remained on, giving the restaurant an air of privacy, and with most people gone, a relative silence filled the place. Once again, Sarah, my brother and me were stuck on the elevated stage, unmoving and quiet. Erik leaned against the wall separating the twin hallways with an impatient expression on his face as Dave stared out the window next to the door. Both of them seemed to have aged more than their due years.

"Are they going to arrive soon?" asked the manager yet again.

The head guard turned around to look at the older man, and replied with confidence "They'll be here soon, don't worry about it."

Erik huffed in mild annoyance as he pulled his cigarette case from his shirt's pocket. "I'm going out for a smoke." With quick yet calm steps he opened the door after this common announcement, and Dave walked back to the center of the Dining Area with a thoughtful expression.

He then turned to us suddenly, seemingly about to say something, but he was interrupted by the sound of an approaching car. The vehicle's bright lights neared the front door and stopped right in front of it, before turning off after a moment. Dave calmly opened the restaurant's door a few seconds later, just in time for a five year old girl to leap from the doorway into his arms.

The man laughed as he pushed her out of the embrace gently and slowly. "Alright Evie, that's enough." he said softly, laying his hands on her shoulders.

The girl returned his smile with her milky white teeth. "Can you do the show Daddy?" she asked, almost jumping up and down in excitement.

"Of course sweetie." Dave lifted his eyes off his daughter to look at the woman of around his age standing by the doorway. "Go find a place to sit while I talk to mommy, alright?"

Evie's answer was a cheery "Alright!" and some frisky skips to the table with the best view of the stage. Meanwhile, her father and mother stood by the doorway, both visibly unsettled by something. They began to whisper to each other and almost seemed to be fighting, but there was more anguish than anger in their hushed voices.

"Daddy, they're not moving!" Evie called out suddenly, pouting at her father. Dave paused the conversation to fish out our remote control from his pocket, pressed a few of its buttons, and immediately the three of us started to move in our usual routine. The girl didn't seem to mind the absence of music; she simply stared intently at the show, her lips curled up in an innocent smile of wonder.

Evie was certainly our biggest fan. We saw her grow over the last three years, from a two year old baby that couldn't leave her mother's arms to this energetic and lively toddler. Taking advantage of his position, Dave often made these little shows for her daughter after the place closed down. The feeling of our rigid bodies moving against our will to those same cheesy songs was almost torture, but we didn't mind Evie's little shows. There was something about that girl's smile and eyes that made everything more bearable.

But right then I was more interested in the couple's anxious whispers. I strained my hearing to pick out a few key words, and managed to build their sentences.

"Tell him that you can't do it." demanded the woman, looking straight into her husband's eyes.

"Laura, it was not Erik's decision." answered Dave in a more leveled voice. "It's part of my contract. We haven't had a night guard in almost three weeks. If we don't get one immediately they can shut us down right away. We already had warnings, and w-"

"Can't you _please _go look for one?" interrupted Laura with a weaker tone.

The man shook his head. "There are ads in all local newspapers, but no one wants to work here at night. Everyone heard the rumors." Both immediately turned their heads to look at us, making me feel a pang of guilt.

"Then quit." She looked up at Dave once more as she tightened a small hand around his arm. "Forget this place, forget Erik, forget those robots." The man turned his gaze to the door, eyeing in tentatively. "I know money's tight, but we'll figure something out. We always have! Just please, don't go."

Dave sighed as he looked back at his wife with pained eyes. "Laura, I want to know." His words were so quiet that I could barely hear them. Slight incredibility appeared in the woman's expression, followed by disappointment. "Maybe that will help. If there really is something going on with the animatronics, something that you can only see if you're in the night watch, then maybe we can fix them." A spark of hope lit up Dave's low voice. "Then nobody would have to quit, and this place could even win back its old glory. Think about it."

Laura only let her hand slide from his arm, her head lowered. After a few seconds of silence, the woman mumbled "We'll be waiting in the house." She then turned around with a somber expression to look at her happy daughter. "Evelyn, we're going home."

The girl responded to her mother's orders with an eye roll and an exaggerated groan of displease, but she still jumped off her chair, walked speedily to the woman and took her hand. "Bye bye Daddy!" she beamed, smiling at her father with blissful ignorance.

Dave could only muster a weak, disheartened grin. "See you home, sweetie."

Not a second later the door slammed shut behind the mother and the daughter, followed by the startup of the car and the sound of wheels reversing and then driving away. Meanwhile, our bodies still moved along with the nonexistent music as the man in purple pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a stressed sigh.

It was then that Erik stepped into the place cautiously as he smothered a cigarette butt in his pocket. Walking slowly to Dave, not looking directly at him, he said flatly "She's mad at me."

"She's mad at me too." was the head guard's dry answer. "Guess that means she cares."

The manager nodded in agreement. Again, he waited for a prudent time before saying "They don't know about the bodies, do they?"

With his eyes glued on the floor's tiles, Dave shook his head. "They still believe those twelve disappeared in thin air." He took a long breath. "The only secret I keep from them and it has to do with murder."

"I'm sorry." It was strange to hear emotion in the manager's voice. "You know how it is: the CEO wants to keep this place open no matter what, hide everything under the rug."

"Yeah, I know." The head guard looked back at his superior. "Still, I feel like there is something I can do."

"Make it out alive." ordered Erik, "Find out what you can. I might even be able to hijack the power cables, that would give you free power for a few days until the higher-ups find out and try to fire me."

Dave stared at the man in pleasant surprise. "Uh, thanks Erik." he murmured in awe, "Thanks a lot."

The other man shrugged. "Just remember that if they cut my pay for that..."

"It'll come out of _my_ pay." completed the other man, but he still smiled at the manager in acceptance."That's fine by me."

"I know." Erik turned around and walked to the door, already pulling his cigarette case out of his shirt's pocket. "Let's go. I wanna talk to you about the rumors surrounding that new place."

"The sister location?" asked the guard as he fondled our remote control in his hand. Nodding, the other man left the building, leaving the door open.

Dave finally pressed our free roam button, freeing our bodies from the mechanical strain of the show. He began to walk to the opened door, but stopped suddenly and turned around to glare at us with a mixture of distrust, anger and fear. "Don't kill me." he whispered, "If you can hear anything I say, that's all I'm asking for. Please, don't kill me."

The head guard finally left the darkened building, leaving behind a heavy air of uncertainty. After a long silence, Sarah said "Jeremy's coming tonight, isn't he?"

Nodding, I laid the Bonnie's fake red guitar on the floor, before answering flatly "Yeah. Let's wait him out."

We eyed Sean as he climbed down the stage silently and calmly, walked into the bathroom corridor and disappeared in the dark.

* * *

The night was long and silent. My eyes' dim pink glow was just enough to read in the lightless west hallway. I turned another page of the thriller I had read a dozen times, sighed, and looked at Jack. He was sitting by my side, disassembling his puzzle just to put it together once again. I flexed my legs to prevent my servos from locking up, making them whir and buzz in appreciation.

"How l-late is it?" asked Jack suddenly without looking at me.

I shrugged. "Two? Maybe two thirty? Something like that."

He went back to his puzzle, eyeing it without interest "I'm bored" he stated after a few seconds, irritated.

"Would you rather have us trying to rip you to pieces?" I questioned.

Jack sighed like a nagged kid, then looked at me with sorry pinpoint eyes and mumbled a low "You're right." Lowering his head, he slowly traced some circles on the floor as I went back to my book. "I just want to know when he's coming. He should c-come by midnight."

I turned a page. "Give him time buddy. It must be difficult to move around town without half your frontal lobe."

It was then that we heard the characteristic, rhythmic ticks of hard wood against glass. Our eyes lit up and our ears rose up in pleasant surprise while we rushed out of the hallway and into the dining area. Ferny quickly pulled aside the curtains of Pirate's Cove and met us in front of the stage, followed by Sarah, who held a sturdy flashlight in her yellow hand. Sean stepped out of the black bathroom hallway, his eyes less cold than usual, and we grouped together behind the window next to the front door.

The hooded silhouette's head perked up slightly on the other side of the glass, and he shuffled himself to the door. The knob rattled as he tried to put the key in its hole for long seconds, but it finally rotated, allowing the door to open and the man to step inside, leaning heavily on his walking cane. Sarah flicked on her flashlight and pointed it at the ceiling, finally bringing enough light to see Jeremy's tired, scarred and happy face under his baseball cap and hood. With shaky, small steps he came closer to us, always leaning on the cane, seemingly about to fall down any second from the weight of the large backpack be carried.

"You're late Jerry." started Sean, his grave voice slightly mocking as he walked up to our cousin.

Sighing, the man dropped the heavy backpack unceremoniously on the floor. "For God's sake! I'm sorry! Okay?!" he blurted out, genuine anger visible in his face. "Damn it!"

We remained silent for a while as he calmed down, covering his face with his hand after a few seconds before letting out a shaky sigh. "I'm sorry. Guys." he mumbled weakly, eyes low. "You know how. It is with. Me." He always spoke like that now: chopped up, laboriously, as if it was too much to say one normal sentence.

Sean nodded, offering his hand to Jeremy. Our cousin took it, allowing my brother to help him walk to the show stage. Meanwhile, Ferny grabbed the backpack in one hand effortlessly and began to follow the pair, while Sarah, Jack and me followed him.

Jeremy groaned as he sat on the rim of the elevated stage, finally taking off his hood but not his cap. The keys that he never returned after he quit jingled in his pocket when he pushed himself more on the stage. "So..." He laid twitching hands on his knees while we sat around him, and said "My mom thinks that. I'm with my girlfriend. In a nice hotel in Dallas. To attend a disability convention. Uhh, what else..." he hummed thoughtfully. "Oh. Yeah. Still unemployed. But I guess that's not news. As much as an update." Sighing, he shook his head. "No one wants to hire. An irritable engineer that misses. Part of his brain. Literally."

"I thought all engineers were like that." joked Ferny.

Jeremy shook his head as he laughed heartily and happily. We chuckled along, ignoring how his smile accentuated his line of scars. Wheezing, our cousin finally said "Alright. That was a. Good one." He returned to his thoughtful expression for a few seconds, before turning around suddenly to look at me with happy eyes. "Oh, that's right! Happy birthday, Brandon!"

"Uh, thanks." I mumbled awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. "But my birthday was in August, it's October now. You managed to sneak at night in and give me a radio. We had a lot of fun, actually. Don't you remember?"

My cousin stared at me for a moment, incredulous. "I… I don't remember. I'm. Sorry." He shook his head. "I can't believe I. Forgot your birthday."

"Not your fault." I answered, "You're doing everything you can and more. Thank you."

He raised his shoulder. "It's nothing." Jeremy let a few seconds pass as he looked at the long dining tables, clearly struggling to remember something. "So, you're fifteen. Now. Right?"

"Sixteen." I corrected. "Eight years alive, eight years… whatever this is."

"Of course, sixteen." Jeremy looked at each of my friends and my brother. "That means that. Sean is twenty. Ferny is seventeen. Sarah is seventeen. As well. And Jack is… umm…"

"Fourteen." he answered dryly.

"Fourteen." repeated my cousin. "Thanks." Immediately, another expression of hard thinking appeared on his face. "There was something else. That I always do when. I come here. What is it?" Ferny shoved the large backpack to Jeremy, and the latter looked at it in surprise for a moment, as if he had forgotten he brought it here in the first place. But then he took it firmly, giving an appreciative nod to Fer as he opened it and pulled out a flat, rectangular box.

Jeremy hummed as he pulled a crumbled piece of paper from his front pocket. "Let's see. 'Square box. Jack'. I'm guessing it's a… Don't tell me." He drummed his fingers as he thought for a few seconds. "Got it! It's a jigsaw puzzle, right?"

Jack nodded and took the box from my cousin's hand eagerly, eyeing the picturesque landscape on its cover before reading the details. "Only 1000 pieces?" he complained, looking at me instead of Jeremy.

"Only?!" The man glared at Jack in surprise. "That's 8 to10! Hours of assembly time! For adults! It's on the box."

"That's three hours for Jack." replied Sarah causally. "Four hours tops. And after he gets it done the first time, he'll finish the thing in less than two hours. He's _good_."

Jack raised his head at Sarah for a second, confidence visible in his pinpoint eyes. "I'm _g-good_." he repeated proudly as he began to open the box. But before he could, I give him a slight nudge on his side. He sighed lowly, and mumbled a mechanic "Thank you." without looking at my cousin.

Jeremy then pulled a few second-hand paperbacks from the backpack, and handled them to me and Ferny. He loved sci-fi, while I preferred a clever mystery horror thriller. Sean thanked him as he took his historical novels, and Sarah opened her art magazines as soon as she got them. We couldn't be more thankful every time he went through this for us, but he always answered with "It's nothing."

"Could we ask you for something, Jeremy?" said Sarah after eyeing her magazine quickly.

"Anything." was the man's answer.

"We kinda need another radio."

My cousin stared at her, puzzled. "Why? What happened to. The last one?"

Sarah only looked at me in accusation, purple eyes shining fiercely. My eyes darted sideways automatically to avoid her gaze as my fingers brushed the back of my head. Chuckling awkwardly, I mumbled "I may have lost control for a moment and…"

"Goddammit Brandon!" Jeremy groaned as he covered his face. "Those things aren't! That cheap, you know! I don't have a lot! Of money and you know that!"

Slight anger welled up inside me at his outburst, but I took a deep breath to calm myself. It's always easier for _him_ to take control when I'm angry. "I'm sorry Jeremy." was my low reply, "But I couldn't help it. He's really strong lately."

The man then took a deep breath himself, and said "And I'm sorry. Heh. Look at us. Doing and saying. Things we don't mean." He shook his head. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." I whispered, "Thanks a lot."

He nodded with a firm expression. "Anything else you guys. Need to tell me?"

A thoughtful silence filled the room. Thankfully, there hadn't been more 'incidents' since his last visit, so there weren't many bad news to share, something pleasantly unusual for us. "No." said Sean matter-of-factly after a minute, "We haven't hurt anyone in a while, luckily. But people are starting to notice that something is going on here."

My cousin nodded, clearly frustrated. "I noticed. Last week some guys. Wanted to interview me for a. Radio show about ghost stories. They called me right home. Who knows how they. Got the number. Anything else?"

The five of us looked at each other, but it was clear that there was nothing left to say about us. However, a distant memory flashed in my mind. Words from a time that seemed so distant, from friends long gone. "Jeremy, do you remember Mangle?" I asked.

"How could I. Forget her?" The man pointed at his scarred face, but there was no resentment in his voice.

"That night, after the bite, I was… mad." As I spoke, I could almost see myself in that empty hallway once again. "Mad at her, at me, at everything_. _Marionette came and tried to use me to destroy her, knowing it would separate us even more. That was the first time that a part of Bonnie took over me, outside regular hours."

"You never told. Me this before." interrupted Jeremy, awestruck.

"I guess I simply forgot. But I didn't harm her, thankfully. He wasn't that strong back then. But after all, Mangle asked me to tell you something."

"What was it?"

I peered inside my memories until I found her exact words. "She wanted me to tell you that… that she says hi. That she's thankful to you. And, that she's sorry."

A bittersweet smile appeared on Jeremy's lips. "I mean, there's nothing. To forgive. It was not her fault."

I smiled. "That's exactly what I told her you'd say."

We spent a few more hours with him, remembering, having fun, and pretending that we were what we used to be before everything happened. For the next hours, he made us feel like we were truly human, truly alive.

Jeremy left the building an hour or two before dawn, a walking cane in his hand and an empty backpack on his back. We said goodbye, and he agreed to come in exactly next month.

But that never happened. That was the last time we would see him.

* * *

**A/N: **Now, Sister Location...

First of all, I really liked the game's lore. Different in many ways, while still retaining the 'FNaF element' I love so much. So, will I write a SisLoc fic?

Maybe.

I honestly want to dive heads first and do a medium-length fic on SisLoc right now, but for now this story is my top priority. I'm still puzzling together my interpretation on SisLoc's lore and its connections to the other games, not to mention real life responsibilities. It's likely that I'll do a story on it of around 10 chaps, but only after I'm done with _Lost_. However, I _might_ just do a one-shot or two-shot on Sister Location in the coming month, depending on available time. It's all very relative at this point.

In any case, thanks for reading, and have a good week.


	40. The voice on the phone

**A/N: **Hello guys, welcome back. First of all, thanks for waiting through an unusually long delay, even for me. I don't enjoy making you wait, but it's been a _very_ busy final exam season for me. Sometimes, however, I simply have writer's block or I'm distracted by other things. I know it's annoying for you, and again, my apologies. Thanks for your patience, and hopefully this chapter will make up for the wait.

Now, there is something I wanted to say regarding criticism versus 'flames'. Recently, I got a good piece of criticism from a guest user, at the end of which he apologized for 'flaming' me. Guys, you do not have to apologize for giving me your honest critique, in fact I'm thankful to anyone who does so. Flames are mindless hate that can't help an author, but honest reviews like the one I got are a massive help. I invite you all to give me your honest opinions so I can try to improve this story.

With that aside, happy reading! Let me know how you liked this one, and take care. Have a good week ;)

* * *

**Chapter 40: The voice on the phone**

_But the subject of ghosts was raised again as we sat in the smoking room after dinner, and over glasses and pipes, speculated on various theories and philosophies to do with specters, the afterlife and worlds beyond the grave._

Completely enthralled, I turned the page of my supernatural thriller, courtesy of Jeremy's last visit, and read on. I had lost sense of time, barely remembering that there wasn't a lot left till midnight, when a new guard would arrive. But I just had to finish this chapter.

The supply closet was surprisingly roomy, considering the pizzeria's budget. Even with our size, there was more than enough space for two of us to sit on the floor comfortably, but no one else ever came here. Not that I had any problems with that: with the closet's light turned off, and its thick shelfs blocking every noise, it was the perfect place to read an old-fashioned, gothic ghost story. Unfortunately, none of the characters' theories on ghosts was ever right.

I was close to finishing the chapter when I heard a soft, raspy, spiteful voice; its presence immediately brought back a flood of bad memories, but above all a feeling of annoyance.

"Hello, Pizza Boy. It's been a while."

I laid down my book reluctantly and stared in front of me. The pink glow from my eyes reflected off the figure's black slender body. Its previously clean white mask was now covered with dark streaks, as if pure darkness was sprouting from its top. But no light was necessary to see the blazing white light in his hollow eyes.

"What do you want, puppet?" I replied, letting him know I wasn't scared as much as bothered.

Marionette chuckled lightly. "You're not afraid?"

I shrugged, standing up besides the light switch. "I was enjoying a story about evil ghosts, and an evil ghost shows up. You could say I was prepared. Besides, I'm getting tired of these visits."

Once again, the puppet laughed. Although it was barely more than a snicker, it belonged to a madman who was slowly but surely losing what was left of his mind. "You're not scared of a Shadow?" he asked, curious and amused.

"No."

"You should be." Every last bit of playfulness left his voice immediately. "Look at me, Pizza Boy. This is your future. You will all become Shadows. Like me, like _them._"

"Only if the blood seal in my body gets damaged." I reminded. Marionette's gaze immediately dropped to my chest as a sinister hunger took over his eyes. "My eyes are up here, puppet."

The Shadow chuckled again, raising his stare as he stated happily "I'm impressed. You're not showing any kind of remorse, even though I can see the blood dripping from your fingers. How many have you killed?"

"I never killed anyone. Everything was done by that thing you awoke inside me." But I wasn't sure of that myself, and he knew that.

"Is that true?" Marionette's smile seemed to grow even more as he took some deliberately slow steps towards me. "You are two sides of the same coin. You think he hasn't talked to you because you're strong?" A short, mocking laugh echoed through the room. "He's not going to waste his energy on you. He's saving it all for the poor soul that's coming tonight. I'm sure he wants to be the one to kill, and when he does, he'll grow. His bloodlust will take over you, and you will be one and the same. And I will be in the shadows, enjoying the show as you crumble into him."

A short pause followed. His eyes flickered down to my chest for a moment. "What happened to Balloons and Mangle?" I asked coldly, pushing down my swelling discomfort. "Where are they?"

"Oh, I don't know." His indifference sickened me. "I'm sure they're fighting for their minds. If that's the case, they're in pain. Don't worry though, it won't be for long. They will never win. We'll all be the same at the end." The puppet stepped closer, his needle-like fingers sharpening into shadowy claws. "AND YOU CAN JOIN US!"

He lunged forward, a long slender arm aimed at my chest, at my blood seal. But I always sat under the light switch for a reason. As his claws approached my body, I immediately flicked on the switch. The lightbulb above Marionette's dark figure sputtered to life, filling the small room with white, warm brightness. The Shadow hissed in pain, covering his eyes from the burning light as his silhouette seamed to thin out, washed away by the glow. Backing away, the puppet threw one last poisonous glance at me as he began to disappear into nothing.

"See you later, Brandon." Marionette's hateful voice rung through my mind like a faded, distant echo. "I'll be watching."

Then, I was alone again. Blissful silence reigned over the room for a few seconds, and I sighed as I picked up the book. A well-timed burst of light could get rid of a Shadow for a while, but never permanently. I then wondered if Balloons and Mangle were hidden away from the light somewhere, afraid and alone. Did they still remember who they were? Did they still remember us?

Some knocks on the door behind me brought me back to the present. I turned around to see Sarah opening it slowly, peaking at me. "Brandon, it's almost midnight." she said as she opened it completely. "Time to go." Her eyes and voice were devoid of her usual playfulness; no one was looking forwards to tonight.

I followed her back to the dining area, reluctant. Sean was speaking to Ferny from his usual place on the stage, but he fell quiet when he noticed me. "Jack's hiding in the kitchen, right?" I asked Ferny as Sarah and I climbed up the stage, taking our usual places.

He nodded. "I told him to lock the door. Hopefully that helps."

"Thanks." Sighing, I checked the clock hanging on the dining area's wall. It was five for twelve. "So, now we wait?"

"Now we wait." Fer turned around and started to walk back to pirate's cove, but not before turning around to us one more time. "Good luck guys." he called out, clearly trying to beat the heavy cloud above our heads. "Or should I say, bad luck?"

Sarah couldn't hold back a small snicker. "Bad luck to you too, doofus."

Ferny grinned, showing off his sharp fangs as he stepped into the cove and pulled its curtains shut. A wave of anxiety washed over me as silence filled the dark space. Not one minute later, the front door swung open slowly, and a bleary-eyed Dave stepped into the restaurant. The man crossed the dining area with big steps, barely giving us a quick and scared glance before walking into the west hallway. It was clear that he did not want to spend time with us.

The clock didn't make any sound when it struck midnight. I felt a soft tap on my left shoulder, and turned my head discretely towards Sarah. She gave me a small, reassuring nod along with a feeble smile. I nodded back in appreciation. Sean only looked at me for a second, clearly about to say something, when he shut his eyes forcefully and turned his head away. Letting out a small groan, he held a hand on his chest.

'Don't worry, kid.' taunted the voice in my head, his words slow and venomous. 'It'll be over soon. Just be a good boy and let me out.'

The pain was short and strong, taking me by surprise. I didn't bother fighting back, knowing it was useless. Instead, I just prayed that I wouldn't wake up with blood on my hands, and closed my eyes.

I smiled as I opened them, enjoying the feeling of total control and freedom over myself. Freedom to kill once again.

"Is that you, Bonnie?" asked Freddy, his low voice eager yet calm.

Turning my head towards him and Chica, I nodded with pride. "It's me. Happy to be back." I climbed off the stage and started to head to the dining area, when I heard Freddy say "We can't go tonight."

All the joy from the prospect of killing turned into bitter frustration. "What do you mean?" I growled, facing the two figures on stage. "I haven't killed in months! I _need_ to feel it again."

"I know you do." The bear stepped down from the stage, cold blue eyes locked steadily on me. "But this game won't be like the others."

"What do you mean?"

Freddy crossed his arms as he began explaining. "He is the manager's right-hand man, and maybe even a close friend. I know it's hard, but try to go back to the memories of your other self from last evening."

"I don't wanna have anything to do with that brat." I answered curtly, "If he heard anything useful, then spit it out. You know I don't like to wait."

Mild disappointment flashed behind the bear's cold eyes for just an instant, then they returned to their normal indifference, almost boredom. "The manager broke the rules. This guard will have  
unlimited power for a few nights."

"Are you saying that we can't kill him?!" demanded Chica anxiously, glaring at Freddy. "That's _so _unfair! What do we do?!"

The brown figure turned to her slowly, never losing his calm demeanor. "They won't be able to keep it up forever." was his answer, "Sooner or later, they'll have to go back to a limited amount of power per night."

"What do we do if we can't kill?" I asked, irritated.

"We wait." replied Freddy as he turned away from us and headed to Pirate's Cove. "I'll tell Foxy everything I just told you. Go walk around if you like, but don't act to aggressive. Just do as if you were freeroaming and nothing else. I'll see you later."

He kept walking towards the Cove, leaving Chica and me behind in silence. Growling with frustration, I scratched the back of my head as I stomped around the dining area impatiently, away from her. I held my fingers as they started to twitch with need, tried to ignore the hot yearning from my body and walked around aimlessly to distract myself.

These were going to be some long, annoying hours.

* * *

Nothing changed for the first three nights. We always woke up a few minutes after six, relieved to see that our alter egos hadn't tried anything except walking around the pizzeria impatiently and inspecting Dave in his office. Early in the night he could be seen recording some messages on a phone's voicemail, giving instructions for the guard that would come after him. And every morning before the first clients arrived, the head guard would give the same report to his superior: nothing too strange was happening.

Almost twenty people in total visited the pizzeria during the fourth day, an exceptionally large amount compared to what was normal for the establishment. A few minutes after closing, three men in suits arrived at the front door without any kind of warning. The manager was still lingering around the dining area when he noticed them. He opened the door reluctantly with a fake smile, yet it seemed like he was somehow expecting them to come.

The trio of executives looked completely out of place in the grimy and childish establishment. In another moment it might have been comic, but there was a certain tension in the air. The 'meeting' lasted for twenty minutes in the dining area, but there were only two things that mattered to us: unless the place managed to somehow break even over the following weeks it would be closed down indefinitely, and they had noticed how the current night guard used way too much power for the location's budget. Erik could no longer protect his friend from us.

* * *

Ferny tapped his foot impatiently as he leaned against the kitchen wall, yellow eyes filled with anxiety. "So, he's gonna have almost no electricity tonight?" he asked.

Sean nodded absent-mindedly, his eyes focused on nothing in particular, and answered "Yes. To make up for all the power he used the past three nights."

"Does he know?" continued Ferny, looking down at Sarah, Jack and me.

"No." she said, shoving herself closer to the withered yellow body. "I don't think so."

Jack shivered as he curled himself up against the wall, white pinpoints of light shining feebly. "He'll t-take over the next night, I know." His voice sounded low and ill, a symptom of what was to come.

"Are you feeling cold?" I asked.

He shrugged without looking at me as he idly traced a circle on the floor. "It's always s-so cold when… _he…_wants t-to play."

I sighed and threw a quick glance at the clock on the wall; it was almost time. The uncertainty of previous nights was no longer a weight over our heads, since it was clear that the man had no chance of surviving if he decided to come. We could only wait.

Jack raised worried his eyes to me, and whispered "What if h-he takes over me?"

"Bucky only does that on the fifth night." I replied, trying to sound reassuring as we walked back to the door. Nodding slightly, Jack lowered his gaze, seemingly bored of having to wait without anything to do. I waved at him as I stood alone under the doorway. "Lock the door buddy, and take care."

"You too." he replied shortly, waving at me weakly.

I was about to head back to the stage, when I suddenly felt the urge to say one last thing. Turning around once again, I told him "Whatever happens, whatever you hear, _please _don't leave this room. Even if it's to save his life. He might get hurt like the others, but you don't have to."

"I know." was Jack's dry answer. "D-don't worry. Just go."

I closed the door with a lowered head and walked back to the stage. Ferny was already hidden behind his curtains, and Sarah and Sean were in their usual places.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Sarah to no one in particular, even though we all knew the answer. It was then that Dave appeared by the front door. With his eyes slightly closed and cast downward, he opened it and stepped into the dining area, not looking at us once. The man took slow, deliberate steps to the office. He seemed confident that nothing was going to happen.

Sean sighed after we heard the steel door from the office close, and mumbled "No. We can wait for a miracle, but I don't believe in those things. Not anymore."

I saw how the clock's hands finally came together, forming a single line: twelve o'clock. "We're sorry Dave." I whispered, closing my eyes. "We're very sorry."

* * *

"Bonnie, wake up." Freddy's unexpressive voice was the first thing I heard as I opened my eyes. "The wait is over."

A bolt of excitement rushed through me while I turned to my companions. Chica's eyes were bright and wide, almost crazed-looking with anticipation, whilst Freddy's were cold and dead on the surface, yet filled with bloodlust just below. "He ran out of unlimited power, didn't he?" I asked.

The bear nodded, a thin smile appearing on his mouth. "He's ours now. Do you want to play our usual game?"

I shook my head as I practically jumped off the stage, and said "We waited long enough." Foxy quickly pulled open the curtains of Pirate Cove, and came by my side in a few strides. I held my hands in each other as he did, trying to conceal how much they were trembling. "I'm going straight for the prize."

"You two take the west hallway, and we'll take the east." replied Chica, climbing off the stage with Freddy. "He'll run out of power in no time with both doors closed." They both started to walk to their hallway, then she turned around to look at me once more time with a hungry gaze. Grinning wickedly, she said "We'll meet you two there."

Foxy and I didn't wait to begin our short voyage to the grand prize, but every little second felt too long. Balling my twitching hands, I tried to stay focused through the haze of my bloodlust, but it had grown into an unstoppable force. It had taken over me like never before, filling me with the need to steal a life with my hands. And I liked it.

When we got to the office the man was nervously recording one last message as Chica pounded her fists against the window, cracking it in the process. Foxy peered through the glass at the man, curiosity and eagerness visible in his hollow yellow eyes. But I simply stood in front of the door, ready to jump in as soon as the lights went out.

"Uh, hey, do me a favor." The man's voice was weak and scared, muffled by the thick steel. Chica's banging interrupted him for just a second. "Maybe some time, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room?" More bangs came from the opposite hallway; louder, harder, hungrier. "I'm gonna try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad."

"Why is this taking so long?!" I growled, kicking my feet against the door. I couldn't wait anymore.

"Uh, I always wondered what was in those empty heads back there. You know…"

Everything in the building turned off with a ghostly hum. The feeble warm light in the office was snuffed out like a candle, engulfing the cramped space in darkness. That was until the doors rose up simultaneously, and the man suddenly found himself surrounded by four pairs of glowing eyes.

With crossed arms, I slowly walked up to the figure behind the desk. The guard looked me like a deer in the headlights, not scared as much as bewildered. Sighing, I stopped by his side. "Do you have any idea how annoying it is to wait?" I began casually, "To spend hours and hours doing nothing at all while you sit comfortably here? I hate it."

The man's brow furrowed slightly after my cassette rewound and my voice box repeated my words. "How… how can you speak?" he asked, baffled and confused.

"But you never suspected anything, did you?" I smiled with satisfaction. "We got you good."

"What are you?!" he demanded harshly, standing up from his chair. "What did you do to the oth-"

My fist dug into his stomach, turning his words into guttural groans of pain. "You. Are. Rude." I scolded as he crumpled down on the floor. "You can't even ask a question with manners." I smiled while the man rolled on the dirty tiles, clutching at his midsection and gasping for breath. He looked up at me, eyes filled with hate and fear as I sat down next to him.

I turned my head to the right and glared daggers at Chica when she tried to get into the office with me. "Don't touch him." I warned, my voice low.

"What do you mean?" she asked, slightly confused. "I want…"

"I don't care what you want. This is what I _need, _do you understand?" She nodded with a resentful scowl. "Good. Glad to see we agree on something." When I turned my head back to the man I was met with a hard, dry hit against the side of my face. Hissing from the sting, I saw how he raised his nightstick to strike again, but I quickly grabbed the hand holding the weapon and closed my hand around his wrist until he dropped the baton.

Chuckling, I slowly crushed his wrist in my hand, enjoying how he uselessly tried to get out of my grip. "A nightstick? That was a bad idea, meatbag." I took the nightstick in my other hand. "A _really_ bad idea."

Tightening my grip on his wrist, I roughly pulled up his arm and swung the weapon against its elbow. The joint was shattered immediately, causing his forearm to sag backwards at an unnatural angle. I let go of his broken arm and batted his chest and face with the nightstick; his ribs cracked, shuffled and broke with each hit. My laughs were drowned out by the man's screams until he fell silent, his eyelids and cheeks swelling up like balloons as the clock ticked on.

"Bonnie, that's enough." Freddy's stern voice felt like a distant noise. "You're going to kill him before time." Ignoring him, I smashed the unmoving man's crushed chest with the bloody baton once again. "Bonnie!"

Annoyed, I turned my head towards the bear. "What is… the problem?" I panted, dropping the nightstick. "I only… hit him… a few times."

"It's been ten minutes." said Foxy behind me as he stepped into the office. "You got your time. Let's finish this."

The man wheezed miserably before coughing up thick droplets of blood, staring at me blankly through his swollen and purple eyelids. Freddy went up to him calmly, and asked nonchalantly "What's your name?"

A raspy breath escaped the man's cracked lips. "D-Dave…" he answered, "Dave Hobbs."

"Well Dave," Chica walked up next to Freddy, and with a smile on her face told him "you're about to die."

"I know." The guard rolled his eyes to her, unable to move his body. "I h-have a wife… and a b-beautiful daughter. She's only five, but she l-loves you all. Her name is Evelyn. She doesn't deserve t-to lose me now. Please, just l-let me record one last message. I only want to say goodbye."

I laughed at the man's naivety. "Dave, look at me." He didn't listen to my order. "Look at me!" I grabbed his head and twisted it until he was staring into my eyes, and whispered slowly "Do you think I give a damn about your wife and daughter? Do you think I care that little Evelyn will grow up without a father? You are all the same: little bags of flesh and bones for us to play with, until we break them."

A spark of pure hate shone in Dave's eyes. "Your death won't change anything." I continued as I let go of him and stood up. "They'll cover it up, make you disappear, give your family some fake story." I grabbed his legs and dragged him effortlessly across the floor, out of the office. "This place will stay open so your so-called friend and his bosses keep making money. More guards will come, more guards will die." Foxy, Chica and Freddy followed me through the west hallway and the dining area. "You will be forgotten with them, just another dead body swept under the rug of this wonderful and magical place. Tomorrow, kids will play videogames and eat pizza like nothing happened. That's the way it is." I nudged open the grey door of the backstage room with my shoulder and stepped inside. "That's how it will be, forever."

A spare suit waited for us in the same place as usual, limp and headless. I grabbed the man by the neck and held him above the suit's opening; sharp pieces of metal and multiple wires shone with the glow from my eyes. "You will burn in hell." he croaked out with his last bit of strength. "All of you."

"Dave, I'm afraid you still don't understand." I stuffed the man into the suit until only his head and shoulders remained exposed. "If we go to hell, we won't be the ones burning." The man's eyes began to roll back in his head, and I put my hand over his face. "We will be the ones watching others burn."

I pushed his head down with all my force, feeling the resistance from the hundreds of crossbeams, wires and metal parts that sliced open the man. He didn't even scream in pain or anger, but simply sank into the depths of the suit silently under my weight.

After a while a few lines of dark blood sprouted from the guard's tomb. I pulled back my hand, admiring how it had been dyed from rich blue to crimson red. The twitching of my hands has stopped completely, and my burning need had subsided into a calm satisfaction.

"Are you done?" asked Foxy as he stepped by my side. "He's dead. There's nothing more to do."

But as I saw the blood dripping from my hand, an idea took shape in my mind. "Do whatever you wanna do." I told the others, leaving the room with a sinful smile on my face. "I want to leave behind a little surprise for my other self."

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry for the small cliffhanger. The sentence in italics is an extract from _The Mist in the Mirror _by Susan Hill, a gothic-horror thriller that I loved.


	41. Mirrors

**A/N:** Welcome back guys, hope you had a fantastic Christmas. Thanks for staying with me through a slow 2016, and best wishes for 2017. Hopefully you won't have to stick with me that much longer ;)

After much consideration, I decided not to write a Sister Location fic. There's just too much plot to cover in that game, and time to write is becoming scarcer for me outside vacations. I'm sorry if I disappointed any of you, but I don't want to commit myself to a long fic again. There's an idea, however, for a short fic after I finish this one.

I'm really happy about the way this chapter turned out. It's the last of a 'dark' period, and the start of something lighter. I'm currently trying to compress as much plot into a single chap as I can, hence the length. As always, your honest opinions are invaluable. Happy reading, and see you next year!

* * *

**Chapter 41: Mirrors**

My head throbbed and pulsed painfully as I opened my eyes. Unfocused gray blurs surrounded me, and I felt the world shift slightly as I came to my senses. Little by little, every object in the room came into focus, and I realized that I was backstage. I raised my head slowly, groaning in discomfort, and stared right into two empty eyes surrounded by blood-stained brown fur.

"No…" I shook my head, trying to deny the image in front of me. "Please don't let this be real." But the suit didn't disappear; it remained on top of its table, limp and lifeless like the body inside it. I lowered my eyes in defeat, only to see a simple leather wallet in my red right hand; my whole arm was soaked with dry blood and bits of torn flesh.

'Rise and shine!' Bonnie laughed with glee at my horror. 'It was such a nice night, we were wonderful! Don't worry, you'll remember everything soon enough.'

Swallowing down my disgust, I brought up the bloody wallet and opened it slowly. The red-smeared faces of a young woman in a wedding dress and a laughing baby greeted me with wide, happy smiles from small photographs.

'Do you like my gift?' asked Bonnie in mocking happiness, 'It was a bit messy, but I dug it out just for you! Aren't they beautiful? Just look at little Evie, her dress is so adorable…'

I threw down the wallet and stormed out of the room with weak legs, holding on to the walls to avoid tumbling down. The air felt thin yet heavy as I walked speedily to the bathrooms with shaky steps. In that moment, I felt sick in every possible way.

'Where are you going?' His voice rung all around me. 'There's nowhere to run Brandon, nowhere to hide. I am part of you.'

Shaking my head in denial, I stumbled into the bathroom corridor and opened the door to the men's room. I ignored everything around me as I went to the only sink and ripped out a handful of paper towels from the dispenser. "Okay…" I whispered while I wet them slightly. "He's messing with you. Don't let him win." Slowly, I rubbed my blood-stained arm with the towels; the paper became a moist pink mass. "Don't let him win." My voice quivered as I tried to hold down the sudden need to cry. "You couldn't help him. There was nothing we could do." Words we had repeated to ourselves on multiple occasions, yet they lost their meaning a little bit more as time passed. I raised my head to look into the mirror. "We…"

The words were snuffed out of my mouth as I stared at my reflection. A pair of glowing pink eyes looked back at me, imbedded in the fuzzy blue face that I had grown to recognize as my own. Its squarish muzzle protruded towards the glass, guarding a gaping mouth lined with cartoonish round teeth. Two long and articulated ears rose from the back of my head, and in the mirror they pointed to the sentence written in blood on top of my reflection. Its ugly red letters formed a slight arc at the edge of the glass, and read: _MURDERER NUMBER 1! _A couple of crude smiling faces to the left and right of the sentence completed the offence; dried blood dripped from their eyes and mouths.

'Don't you love your surprise?!' Bonnie cackled with joy. His familiar voice rung loud and clear through the room, like he was right next to me. 'It was a lot of work!' he wheezed between laughs, 'But I think you deserve it!'

My fist slammed into the mirror and shattered my reflection in a thousand fragments, distorted and jagged. I stumbled back before letting myself slide down miserably against the wall, and with my face buried in my hands, I heard him laugh for long minutes at the suffering he caused. Eventually, I had to clean up the blood on the mirror and walk back to the stage. As I took my place next to them, Sarah and Sean looked at me with worry in their colored eyes. "Do you want to talk?" asked my brother softly.

"No." I mumbled dryly, "I don't."

* * *

The manager used one of the control remotes from the show to lead me backstage as soon as he saw the bloodstains on my arm, anger seeping through his tired eyes. I spent the whole day locked up in place behind that grey door with Dave's body still in the suit, unable to move, hearing how an employee gave an excuse for the absence of the band's guitarist every time a show began.

"Sorry kids, but Bonnie is giving a concert with some new friends in our new location! He'll be back tomorrow."

"We're sorry, Bonnie's guitar broke and he's out to get a new one."

"Bonnie ate too many carrots yesterday and is feeling sick right now."

That was said for the last show right before closing time, and I let out a small, amused smile when I heard it. Every single one of the children couldn't look past the veil of pretty lies that the company set up. Although I was happy for them, in a way I envied their innocence.

A hot wave of anger suddenly came over me. I envied _more _than their innocence. I envied their lives, their families, their friends, their future hopes and dreams. All that was meant for me, and was taken away by a madman with a grudge against my father.

"Little brats." I muttered, "You don't know how lucky you are. At least you can move." Irritated, I tried to do exactly that: move any part of my body. Groaning and huffing, I focused all my strength on standing up, just to remain in the same uncomfortable position. "Useless! Body!" I spat out, "_Move!_" The tantalizing sounds of the clients leaving for the day came into the room, accompanied by the seemingly mocking laughter of children. "Erik, get me out of here!" There was no answer. "Sean, Sarah, get me out of here or I'll gut you open like pigs! Do you hear me?! Get me out of here!"

An indifferent silence followed, and I slowly began to realize what I just said. My ragged, angry breathing quieted down along with the building. Finally, when I had calmed down enough, I whispered in a broken voice "What are you doing to me?"

Bonnie let out a short chuckle before saying 'I'm taking over you, idiot. Didn't you know already?'

I raised my eyes to the suit, examining the lines of dried blood that cascaded down its neckline, shoulders and belly. "I won't let you hurt more people."

'You are so naïve.' He sighed. 'Don't you see that you can't win against me?'

"I don't care. I am not giving up."

Bonnie remained silent for a few seconds, then asked with faked empathy 'What's the point Brandon? Here you are, fighting and suffering, for what?' He paused for a moment, as if giving me a chance to answer. I declined. 'You will never escape this now, none of you will, so why don't you just give up? I'm the best option you have left and you know it. It's inevitable now.'

He was right, even though I refused to admit it. Sensing this, Bonnie continued in a sweet tone 'I can make all the pain disappear if you just let me. Your friends don't have to know anything either; I will imitate you so well they'll never know you've gone. I'll even take care of little Jack for you! And you will rest, like you always wanted. Everything will be okay. All you need to do is surrender yourself to me. We're alone here. We can do it right now. What do you say?'

The room was dark and silent. A clock ticked in the distance, accompanied by some faint footsteps. Cars drove past the building every few seconds. "Do you really think I'm going to trust you after everything you've done?" I said eventually, "I'm not that stupid. You're a psychotic, disgusting, treacherous killer. And I'm never going to surrender to you."

More silence followed. A car stopped outside the pizzeria. 'You never learn, do you?' Bonnie huffed in disapproval. 'I gave you such a great opportunity, and you threw it away. What a shame. Oh well, guess I'll have to do things differently from now on.' Someone opened the front door of the building. 'I see that you no longer care about all the people you've killed over the years. Why would you? You didn't know them at all. You only felt bad about Dave because of his family, and you are already getting over that. But I know what will break you.' He let out a low, sinister chuckle. 'What would happen if you did something to your friends? How would you feel?'

"What the hell are you talking about?" I spat out in anger, "You can't hurt them. The things they become at midnight, their own other selves are your friends as well!"

'Oh, please. 'Friends' is a little bit too much. We're playmates at most, but nothing else. It's a relationship based on mutual gain, you see? I guarantee we wouldn't mind betraying each other if we got something good out of it. We don't need friends. If destroying every single one of them will make you give in to me, then I'll do it.'

Multiple sets of steps neared the room. "I won't let you hurt them."

He chuckled in amusement once more. 'We'll see about that.'

The door swung open hastily, and three men soon entered the backstage. They were all dressed in black, and sported long housecleaning gloves along with mouth covers. One of them went to the suit, and immediately started to remove its head. Another readied a large, black plastic bag. The last one turned to the door, and said in a grave tone "Were you two close, Erik?"

I turned my eyes to the door and saw the manager shrug nonchalantly with a lit cigarette in his mouth. "Long time colleagues." he muttered, "He was a good person."

"I can imagine." was the other man's answer. He then turned to his coworker by the suit. "Hurry up Andy, we don't have all day."

Andy, who had just removed the suit's head, laid it down on the table before murmuring "I'm on it Boris, it's just that this guy is really torn up."

Boris immediately glared daggers at his subordinate. "Hey! Didn't you just hear that he was a longtime colleague of Erik? Have some damn respect!"

Andy sighed a low "Sorry" as he slowly but surely released Dave's body from its prison of wires and gears, but the manager remained stoic. Little threads of smoke rose from his cigarette, seemingly orange in the dark room. The low, warm light accentuated his wrinkles. Was he always this old?

They worked in silence under Erik's cold, tired gaze. Eventually, Andy managed to hoist what remained of Dave out of the suit. The corpse's skin was white as snow, ignoring the dried blood that seemed to cover it almost completely. His eyes were half-lidded, giving him a deceivingly peaceful expression. The body's arms and fingers, stiff as wood, scraped stubbornly against the suit's sharpest parts as Andy finished pulling him out. The third member promptly opened up the bag, allowing his companion to put the body in it and close it with a unfittingly cheery _zip_.

"We'll clean up the place in a moment." Boris told Erik, "Do we put him in the county dump like the others?"

The expression of the manager immediately changed to one of repulsion and disapproval. "He deserves something better." he replied, saying every word with deadly seriousness. "We'll bury him somewhere half decent."

Boris shrugged. "That's gonna cost ya."

"I don't care. I'll help if you want." If Erik hadn't been so serious, I would think he was kidding. Everything always revolved around saving money.

Andy and Boris soon dragged the body out of the room between the two, while the third member cleaned every nook and cranny of the floor, table and suit with bleach, destroying all evidence. He then took care of my arm, scrubbing it clean whilst I tried not to hiss from the burning, scraping sensation. After a few minutes it seemed like nothing had happened at all. In the eyes of the children, nothing ever did. The four men left shortly after and drove away accompanied by their unusual cargo. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of story Erik told Dave's family, assuming there had been a story at all.

Letting out a deep breath, I counted the faint clicks of a distant clock. Either Dave or Erik always left us in free roaming mode, to make sure our servos didn't lock up. However, I still couldn't move an inch of my body, so I simply resigned myself to an uncomfortable night of solitude. In that moment, I felt like that might be the best for everyone.

Then, the door opened once again with a long, low creak. Two glowing blue eyes loomed from the dining area, inspecting me with worry. "Brandon, are you awake?" asked Sean as he finally stepped into the room.

I followed him with my own glowing eyes as he stepped closer to me. "What is it?" I muttered dryly.

His eyes took a sterner look. "No hello for me?"

"No."

Sean shook his head. "We raised you better than this, private."

I flinched back inwardly at his words, and hissed "Don't call me like that."

"Why?" he whispered, confused.

"Because that is not what we are anymore!" The quiet night amplified my words as they echoed in the cramped room. "We are not friends anymore! _They_ give each other nicknames, but _we_ are over that."

He simply stared at me intently with patient eyes as the clock ticked away a few more times. I turned my eyes away from him, feeling the need to squirm under that stare. "Let's try that again." said Sean after a while, "Why can't I call you private?"

I sighed, closed my eyes and waited a few seconds before murmuring "Because it reminds me of better days with you. And I want to leave that behind."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because they're never coming back. Because I messed up, then you messed up, then I messed up some more. And now you hate me."

Sean leaned himself against the shelf in front of me as he thoughtfully turned his head to the cleaned-up suit. I could see he held a hand behind his back awkwardly. Raising his shoulders, he eventually said "I don't love you like I used to private, but I don't hate you. I _can__'__t _hate you, and believe me, I tried." Surprised, I raised my eyes to him; he answered with a single slow nod. "Some weeks after our last… talk, I decided it'd be easier for me to just hate you. That way, I wouldn't have to think about how to make things up, or feel regret. I thought it'd be better than being stuck in the middle like I am, not knowing what to think, not knowing what to feel. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn't bring myself to hate you. And when I saw your eyes this morning… it hurt. It hurt so much that I couldn't ignore it like we've been doing for six years."

"What are you saying?" I asked, my voice quiet and unbelieving.

He lowered his eyes to me once more, and I was struck by the warmth and regret that came from them. "I'm sorry Don." he whispered, "I wasn't there before when you needed me, but I'm here now." He brought the hand behind his back to the front, showing me a second remote control. "We were looking for a way to get you out of here, and Sarah found this in the guard's office." Sean pressed one of the red buttons, and immediately all the paralyzing tension in my body flowed away. Gasping in relief, I let myself slide down against the wall until I was sprawled on the floor. He chuckled, shaking his head. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

I nodded with half-lidded eyes. "It does." We remained in comfortable silence for a moment, before I stared up at him and whispered "I'm sorry too."

"I know you are." He eagerly stretched out his opened hand to me. I hesitated for just a moment, then wrapped my fingers around his and let him pull me up. He smiled as I steadied myself on two feet, and said "You can leave if you want to."

I stared at the door tentatively, eager to spend time with my friends. Then, I remembered Bonnie's threat. "I have to go." was my reluctant answer as I took some steps away from him. When Sean started to follow me, I murmured "I have to go alone."

He eyed me warily, and said in disappointment "I thought we could spend some time together."

I opened the door and stared at the lonely, dark and silent dining area. "I want to, Sean. I really do. But it's better if you leave me alone. _He_ wants to use me to hurt you, and I couldn't bear it if anything happened." Turning around to look at him in the eyes, I added with a smile "Thank you for coming here. Even if we can't be together anymore, I hope you can forgive me for everything. And I hope we can be friends again." With brisk steps I walked away from the backstage, across the dining area and past the empty stage, until I found myself in front of the window by the main door.

Staring at the full moon, I let out a sigh of relief when he didn't follow me, and took a deep breath when a sob tried to leave my throat. "He's safe." I whispered lowly to calm myself, "They're safe. That's all that matters."

But not one minute later, calm and heavy steps approached me from behind, accompanied by the wheezing and whirring of servos and pistons. They grew louder and louder, until they stopped right behind me. "Turn around private." instructed Sean quietly.

I did as he asked, looking at him with slight reproach. "Brother, don't be so stubborn."

He shrugged as he closed the distance between us. "Guess I can't help it."

I was about to give him another warning, when the curtains of Pirate Cove parted open, revealing glowing purple eyes. "What's going on?" asked Sarah aloud as she stepped down from the Cove. Ferny came right behind her, wearing that same curious expression.

"It's complicated." I replied, "But you shouldn't get too close to me."

"Why?" Sarah asked again. She only started walking to me after I told her not to.

"Is there anything wrong?" continued Ferny.

"Why is everyone here?" I turned around to see Jack step out of the kitchen as I heard his voice. "Is everything o-okay?" He slowly came up to us, eyeing his surroundings somewhat warily.

In less than a minute, I found myself completely surrounded by my friends: the exact situation I was trying to avoid. "Guys, please listen to me." They all stared at me curiously as I said these words: "From now on, I want you to be careful of me. I'm… I'm a danger to you, _all _of you." I swallowed down a bitter knot in my throat. "You're my friends. You're the only good thing I have left, and I can't imagine losing you because of my own bad side. So please, leave me alone. Stay away from me."

I glanced at each one of them individually as a heavy silence took over the room. Sarah and Ferny stared at each other, more surprised than confused. Sean looked at me somewhat incredulously, but not as much as Jack. However, they never seemed to be afraid of me. Eventually, my brother came up to me, and laying a large brown hand on my shoulder, said with confidence "Don, that's not going to happen."

"We are all dangerous." resumed Ferny, coming next to Sean, "But isolating ourselves is never a good idea. That'll only make this worse."

"He's right." added Sarah as she followed him to my right. "We're a team. We always were, and we won't stop now. And don't worry about us…" A mischievous spark shone in her eyes. "If Bonnie ever tries to touch me, I'll give you both an ear yank you'll never forget."

Grinning, I brought my ears up and down a few times, and chuckled "They are not happy to hear that!"

Jack slowly came to my left, raising his eyes to mine. "You're kind to m-me, even if I'm weird." he whispered with a warm smile, "You've never left me alone. You're… you're l-like my brother. Thank you."

I barely managed to hold back a sob. "You're… serious?" I stuttered out, overwhelmed and overjoyed. He nodded casually. "I'm… I just…" Laughing, I shook my head. "I don't know what to say. Thanks buddy, but don't say you're weird."

"Then what am I?"

"You're you. And you should be proud of yourself. I know I'm proud of you." His smiled grew even wider, and I let his joy infect all of me.

"So…" Sean crossed his arms as he looked at me expectantly, and asked jokingly "Do you still want to be alone?"

I turned my eyes away from him, scratching the back of my head. "I'm sorry." I murmured awkwardly, "It was a long day, I wasn't thinking clearly." Sighing, I looked back at my friends. "You're amazing guys. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me." I paused for a moment, trying to keep down my emotions; I was determined not to cry in front of them. "Thank you for this. I m-mean it."

Smiling, Sean shook his head. "Private, it's okay to cry sometimes." he reassured, as if I was suddenly eight years old again.

I huffed back in response, trying to sound tough while I wonder how he could look straight through me. "Brother, I'm 16, remember?" I bragged, "I'm not a little kid anymore."

"Yeah, right." he scoffed, "Come here big man." Sean opened his arms, and before I knew it I found myself wrapped in a tight, warm hug. As I slowly wrapped my arms around him, he laid a soft hand behind my head, inviting me to lean my head on his shoulder. I did exactly that, leaning myself completely on him, and suddenly I found myself crying and sniffling like a baby. Burying my face in his felt, I bawled my heart out: for Dave, his family, the others we had killed, Jeremy, the Toys, and everything else. I cried for the years that I had spent building walls to keep him out, not knowing how much I needed him; walls that he tore down with a single hug. I cried, because I felt vulnerable and exposed, but that was okay: we were brothers once again. I cried relentlessly while he patted my back, not letting go once. I cried and cried like a small child in my brother's arms.

After long minutes, my sobs finally subsided into small sniffles. He kept his hands on my shoulders as I gently pulled myself out of his hug. "So, we're good now? Do you forgive me?" I asked meekly.

"I forgive you, private." answered Sean solemnly, "Do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do, brother." Smiling, I nodded a few times. "Of course I do."

"_Finally!__"_ shouted Sarah, raising her hands up to the sky dramatically, "And it only took five years!"

"A little bit more, technically." corrected Ferny with a proud smirk, "You forgot to count the months."

"Shut up professor." She grinned back at him as she stretched her yellow hand, holding it flat and somewhat low. Fer didn't wait to put his hook on top of it.

"It's been way too long." I said, putting my previously-bloodstained hand above the hook.

"Better late than never." added my brother, laying his hand on top of mine.

Jack hesitated as he held a yellow hand above Sean's brown one, not daring to touch it. "We wouldn't be complete without you buddy." I assured, "Don't be afraid."

"I know." He flicked his eyes to mine, and mumbled shyly "It's j-just that… can I put my hand on yours and not his?"

"Sure." Sean pulled back his hand, and I laid mine on top of his. Jack then put his hand above mine.

"All together?" suggested Ferny.

"All together." answered my brother decidedly, giving us a little nod.

"Three! Two! One!" we shouted in happy unison, "_Friends till the end!__"_ Whooping and chuckling, we raised our hands to the grey ceiling. A second wind of hope and resilience took over our hearts, filling us with determination. If we were to fall soon, we would all fall together.

"So, what now?" asked Sarah after a while, a child-like eagerness coming from her eyes. "There's still not much we can do together."

My brother held a hand under his chin, looking down thoughtfully. "We can read in the same room." He suggested eventually.

"That's actually a great idea." beamed Ferny, "Everyone, grab your books. Jack, you can bring a puzzle if you want."

Sarah, Jack and Ferny split up and went to different rooms to grab their items, but I stayed in place, staring out the window. Noticing this, Sean tapped my shoulder, and asked "Don, aren't you going to grab your book?"

I shook my head. "I'm kinda tired of reading to be honest, but go ahead. I'll stay with you."

Shrugging, my brother turned around and walked towards the kitchen. I suddenly found myself alone, admiring the full moon hanging on some thin clouds like a silver mirror. Smiling, I opened my chest and took out a crumbled, battered, dirty plastic rose. "Hello TB, it's been a while. Right now there's a beautiful night outside my window, I'm sure you would love it. The moon never looked so pretty." A small, nostalgic sigh left my mouth. "I miss you little me, you and your friends. I truly wish you could be with us right now. For the first time in a while, I feel that something good is coming our way. Something wonderful already happened."


	42. Jacob

**A/N: **Hey guys, welcome back. First of all, thank you for helping this story reach 200 reviews! I never thought it'd come to this, and it's all because of you. We also passed 80 followers and 70 favorites since the last chapter! I sincerely hope you keep enjoying this fic, and as always your honest comments are highly appreciated.

This was one of the quickest chapters I wrote; it introduces a key character and reveals some interesting things that I wanted to show since we started tape 3. Hope you'll enjoy it, and as always, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 42: Jacob**

Despite our enthusiasm and resolve to stay optimistic, the basic rules of business didn't change. If a place doesn't earn more than it costs, it will have to shut down eventually. And our pizzeria was no exception.

It was a Monday morning before opening time, less than a week after Dave's death, when we saw Erik hang a cardboard sign on the window next to the front door. _Last week before closing! _it read in cheery, fluorescent letters, _50% off in all food and drinks! _The aged manager promptly used his last minutes of free time to smoke a cigarette outside the building, leaning against the doors. In a way, I think he felt relief amidst the promise of unemployment and debts. There was a silver lining for us as well: if we were abandoned here, no more guards would have to die. We were already resigned to our fates, knowing that there was no way to be freed without erasing Jack's soul.

The day passed by without any special occurrences. Clients entered and left the building sporadically: the adults stayed away from us, and let their children somewhat closer. One tiring show after another marked the passing of time.

There wasn't a single client left when closing time was near, so Erik simply stared listlessly at his watch under the ceiling's lamps, counting the seconds eagerly. Unbeknownst to him we were doing the same with the clock on the wall, impatient to be left in free roam mode. It was eight o'clock, closing time, when the man showed up. Erik stood up from his chair and walked to the door, at the same time that a dark silhouette on a skateboard rode casually to the window by the door, and knocked on the glass.

The manager groaned in irritation as he walked to the window. "We're closed!" he yelled to the figure on the other side of the window, tapping his watch for emphasis. "Come back tomorrow!"

We still couldn't see his face, but the man with the skateboard oozed confidence as he pulled out a piece of crumbled newspaper from his pocket, flatted it out and slammed it against the window. "I'm here for the job, old man!" he yelled back with a juvenile voice.

With a furrowed brow, Erik reluctantly walked to the front door and opened it. The man didn't wait for an invitation to step inside, finally allowing us to take a good look at him.

He was 19, but in that moment he seemed younger. Yawning, he held his skateboard with one hand as he walked past the manager, and pulled back his uncared, tousled black hair with the other. A glossy black leather jacket covered his athletic frame, and a pair of ripped jeans and combat boots completed his air of teenage rebellion. But the most striking feature, by far, were a pair of strangely familiar blue eyes.

"Yup, the rumors are true." he mumbled as he looked around the dining area, "This place sucks."

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Erik, clearly running out of patience.

The teen pulled back a chair from a table and sat on it as he tossed the skateboard on the floor, finally seeing the older man in the eyes. "Someone you don't like already." he answered smugly, grinning from his own joke. Erik's eyes burned with impatience as the teen snickered for a few seconds, before finally putting his hands up defensively and saying "I'm sorry old man, I'm just bad at job interviews."

Sighing, the manager crossed his arms. "You are _terrible _at interviews. Why should I give you a job?"

"Oh, I don't know." The young man shrugged. "It's not like you're breaking the law if there is no guard here at night."

"We are going to close this week, indefinitely." continued Erik, "It doesn't make a difference."

"I can start tonight at 12." offered the teen, taking a more serious attitude. "Just give me a uniform. That's all I need, isn't it?"

Erik shook his head. "Look, I already said no. Even if I wanted to, I don't have a uniform in this place."

"And why can't you give me the one from the last guard? Did you have to throw it away because of the bloodstains, or was it too torn up from the whole stuffed-in-a-suit thing?"

The manager's expression hardened as he glared the teen in the eyes, and hissed "How do you know that?"

"A little birdie told me about your savory secrets." replied the newcomer, "The murders of '86, the bite of '87, the disappearances in this place… it would make for a killer story in the local press, don't you think?"

Frozen in place, Erik glared daggers at the young man. The latter crossed his legs casually, and without moving another muscle, stared up expectantly at the older man. "Who are you?" asked the manager eventually.

Shrugging, the teen replied "Just another young American desperate for a job."

A tense silence filled the restaurant, until Erik turned to the door and mumbled "Fine. You'll start tomorrow night, I'll get a uniform." The manager pulled our remote control from his pocket, and with the push of a button, put us in free-roam mode. "And you're getting minimum wage."

The young man huffed as he stood up and grabbed his skateboard. "Like I was expecting more."

"Now get out of here before I call your parents." Erik held open the door for the visitor, gesturing at him to leave. With a sly smile and his skateboard under his arm, he left the building rapidly and triumphantly. It was only when he got on his skateboard and started to push himself away, that the manager realized he forgot something. "Hey, what's your name!" he yelled out hastily.

"I'll tell you when you pay me, old man!" And with that, the stranger rode away from the pizzeria.

Groaning, Erik turned off the lights, muttered something about kids nowadays, exited the building and locked the door. We only dared to speak after he drove away.

"I like that guy!" chirped Sarah suddenly.

"How did he know those things?" asked Sean, holding a hand under his chin.

"Like I know." Ferny called out from Pirate's Cove as he poked his head out the curtains, "But there are lots of rumors about this place already, like the radio show that Brandon heard."

"Still, he seemed to know just a bit too much." I replied, turning my head towards him.

"Uh, guys…" interrupted Sarah with urgency, "He's back."

Sean and I turned around simultaneously to the front door, just to see the strangers face on the other side of the window. He knocked on the glass a few times, and waved at us with a smile on his face.

"Everyone, stay silent." ordered my brother, "He's bored and wants to have a laugh at us, nothing else. Besides, the place is locked."

The stranger walked away from the glass, and Sean let out a sigh of relief. Not one minute later, however, the front door swung open slowly. We froze in place as the young man entered the building again, swinging some keys in his right hand as he threw the skateboard aside. With long strides he walked to the front of the stage, crossed his arms and eyed us with a raised eyebrow. "You can drop the act guys!" he chuckled, "I know who really are… Sean, Sarah, Brandon."

We stayed silent, not knowing what to do, feeling completely exposed and helpless. After a while, I hissed back "How do you know that?"

"Brandon!" Sean growled, "He's a stranger, what are you doing?!"

"He knows our names anyways!" I protested, looking back at my brother.

The young man smiled at us, and said "Relax Sean, I'm a friend of Jeremy. He told me everything, and I'm here to help."

Baffled, we stared down at him. "Alright, tell us who you are and we might just believe you." demanded Sean.

"My name is Michael Schmidt, but you guys can call me Mike. Now, where is my little brother?"

* * *

The kitchen's door let out a short creak as I opened it a bit, peaking inside to see a hunched golden figure assembling a puzzle on the floor. "Hey buddy, someone's here to see you." I whispered.

Without looking up at me, Jack mumbled "I said I wanted to b-be alone tonight."

"Are you sure about that?" replied Mike teasingly as I opened the door fully, a wide smile on his face.

Jack stared at the young man by my side with confusion for a moment, but then the pinpoints of light in his eyes grew and shone brightly with cheer. "Mikey?!"

The older brother shrugged casually, his smile never waning. "It's me!"

Laughing joyfully, Jack stood up from his spot and walked as fast as he could to us. Mike didn't stay put, and the two brothers met in the middle of the kitchen, practically throwing themselves into each other's arms. Mike laughed and Jack cried as they tightened their embrace; it seemed like they would never let each other go. As I looked at them from the doorway, I remembered that first night so many years ago, when Jack and me stared at the moon together. In between tragedies and helplessness, there is hope. Hope that things like this might happen.

Sean came by my side and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Private?" he whispered, staring at me.

I looked back at him. "Yes, brother?"

He smiled. "I think I'm starting to believe in miracles again."

After a minute or two, Mike finally pulled himself out of the embrace. "I'm sorry little man." he whispered, taking Jack's massive hand in his own. "I never should've left you alone." The young man smiled as small tears sprouted in the corner of his eyes. "But I promise… that I won't leave you alone again."

Sniffling back a whimper, Jack nodded slightly. "Okay. Thank you, Mikey."

Mike rubbed his eyes quickly as he turned back to us. "I wasn't crying, what are you looking at?" he grumbled jokingly, before noticing Jack's puzzle. Intrigued, he leaned down to inspect it. "Is this from Jeremy, little man?"

Jack nodded. "Yes. And he d-does them with me sometimes." He then pointed at me with a big, round finger, and Mike turned his eyes to mine. "He's my friend."

"Is he? That's interesting." said the young man seriously, "I'm sure your friend won't mind to talk with me in a moment, alone_._"

Trying to mask my uneasiness, I answered "Of course."

"Now, I'm sure the rest of you have a lot of questions." continued Mike, his voice taking a more friendly pitch.

Sean stepped closer to him, slowly and with determination. "We do." he replied in a serious, low tone. "How do you know of Jeremy Fitzgerald, and why hasn't he told us about you?"

The young man shrugged, never leaving Jack's side. "I'm not sure why he hasn't said anything, but I guess it's easy to forget things when you're missing a good chunk of your brain. My brother let out a low, threating growl, and Mike quickly put up his hands in a defensive gesture. "No offence by the way, he's a great guy. He really does care about you, like I care for my little brother here. That's more or less how we met."

"I never believed that the employee who got the blame actually killed you, and I never stopped researching your murders." continued Mike, "A few weeks ago, I was walking in front of this building, curious to see if something weird was going on. Then, I saw a hunched man with a backpack go to the window, knock on it with his walking cane, and open the door with his own keys. That registers as weird for me, so I waited and waited until he left the building with an empty-looking backpack. I went up to him, asked him what he was doing, all that stuff… he didn't take it well. But I insisted, and after a while I told him I lost my brother in the murders of '86. He opened up a bit after that. We met a few times and eventually he told me everything he knew. Walter, the blood seals, the red book, the Toys…"

"So, you know why we can't be freed?" I interrupted.

Mike nodded. "I see the problem, but I'm sure there must be another way." He put an arm around Jack's shoulder protectively, glaring at me. "You could've erased my little brother seven years ago and finish everything, but you didn't. Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I answered, irritated. "He's my friend! Do you really think I could hurt him?"

The young man took his eyes off me. "We'll talk later. As I was saying, Jeremy told me everything he knew. Obviously, I didn't believe him at first, but I couldn't find a better explanation for his knowledge of my brother's personality. I researched more, and found that interview on the radio. Little by little, I realized that your cousin wasn't lying to me: souls exist, and with the help of that book and those blood seals, they can take hold of a new body after their original one dies. When I saw the add in that newspaper, I didn't hesitate." He turned his blue eyes to Sean's, smirking. "Does that answer your question, Yogi Bear?"

My brother huffed in mild annoyance, before an amused smile appeared on his face. "I guess it does." he replied, "But if Jeremy told you everything, then you know that you're putting your life at risk by being here with us."

Ferny approached the young man until he was next to Sean, and added with concern "Mike, we could kill you easily. Enough people have died already. Jeremy is lucky to be alive."

"Maybe it's better if you don't take the job." suggested Sarah as she walked behind Fer, "Honestly, there isn't much you can do anyways, and…"

"I know what I'm getting myself into." interrupted Mike harshly, "He has suffered enough. And it's _my _life to risk. I'm not going to abandon him here. Not again." He looked back at his little brother, and held his yellow hand tightly. "I'm not going to give up now, after finally finding Jacob."

"You mean Jack." I said hastily from the doorway.

"No, I mean Jacob." Mike looked back at me with amusement. "That's my little brother's real name: Jacob Schmidt. Jack is only a nickname I came up with."

I stared at Jack with surprise and slight reproach as he lowered his head shyly and flicked down his eyes. "Mikey, you know I d-don't like that name." he muttered lowly, ears drooped.

"And that's why I came up with Jack." Mike grinned as he shoved his little brother playfully with his elbow; Jack's heavy body didn't budge and inch, but I could see some amusement in his eyes.

"So, you are definitely staying until the end of the week?" asked my brother.

Mike nodded purposefully. "Five nights, that's right." The young man then glanced quickly at his wristwatch, and whistled in awe. "Time _does _fly!" he called jovially, "Fellas, you seem decent enough, but I don't want to be with you on midnight. This is not new year's eve." That got a few small laughs out of everybody. "I'll leave in a moment, but I wanted to talk privately with bunny boy over here first." His blue eyes flicked up to me, giving me an oddly penetrating gaze.

"What about me, Mikey?" Jack asked meekly, looking unsurely at his brother.

Mike smiled sympathetically as he turned to him. "Wait for us. It'll only take a moment."

"Like the big p-people talks you had with mommy?"

"Exactly like that." The older brother took both of Jack's hands, squeezing them tightly as he looked into his eyes, and whispered warmly "I'm happy to be with you again, little man. No matter what you look like."

Jack smiled back. "I'm happy t-too, Mikey."

With a questioning gaze, Sean looked back at me. "Don, you can say no. We still don't know him well."

"It's okay brother, don't worry." I assured, finally walking to the middle of the kitchen.

He nodded in acceptance, and one by one my friends left the room. Jack was the last one to leave, doing so reluctantly, but after he closed the door it was only Mike and me.

He groaned slightly as he sat down with crossed legs, before knocking on the piece of floor next to him. "Come here bunny boy." he said flatly.

I walked up to him and sat by his side awkwardly, feeling slightly unnerved somehow. We stayed in silence for a few seconds, staring blankly in front of us, until Mike finally said "Brandon… thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

Puzzled, I turned my head to look at him; he was still staring at the door. "What are you talking about?"

He smiled. "You are the only person in the world, besides me, that Jacob has grown attached to. He called you a friend, and he's never had friends before. He seemed comfortable around your brother and your other friends, and his speech has improved a lot. My mom and I tried to accomplish those things for years. Thank you for being there for my little brother. I'm in debt with you and your friends."

Overwhelmed, I scratched the back of my head. "Uhh… it's nothing? I mean, he's a great kid."

"No, it's a lot." said Mike almost sternly, turning to me. "He's not an easy kid. You say he's great because he's kind to you, and that must be because you are kind to him. So, once again, thank you. In between everything, I'm happy Jack found someone like you." I couldn't help but smile at his words. "Did he ever touch you, or let you touch him?"

"Well…" I looked around, thinking. "He only puts his hand on mine, and he might have hugged me once or twice."

"My little brother _hugged _you?!" Mike stared at me with wide, unbelieving eyes and an impressed smile. Huffing, he shook his head. "He barely hugged his own mother, and that's because I told him too."

"What about his father?" I asked, intrigued.

The young man's eyes immediately turned cold as ice. "I'm guessing Jacob didn't tell you much about his old life, did he?"

I shook my head. "No, and I never asked. He sometimes talked about you, but never his dad or mom. I liked to think he had loving parents."

Mike let out a hollow chuckle. "Loving parents, yeah right. My mother is okay. She's not perfect, but she tried, she really did. And she was crushed after the funeral. Then, there's the bastard of my father."

"What did he do?" I asked cautiously.

"It's what he _didn__'__t _do." hissed back Mike, blue eyes filled with wrath. "He abandoned us when Jack was three. My little brother was showing the signs, you know? He didn't laugh when Mom cuddled him, he couldn't say a single word, he was throwing tantrums over everything. When the docs made it official, my father got sick of his own son. He simply packed his bags and left. My mother was crying, begging, and then cursing after him as he grabbed his things, and he told her it wasn't his son and that he was just a useless idiot."

Luckily, I was too shocked to be angry. I simply couldn't understand how a father could voluntarily walk away from his son. "And then the _true_ idiot of my dad had the courage to come up to our room." resumed Mike with barely-contained rage, "He actually offered me to go live with him! To walk away from my little brother! So, I did what any nine year old boy would do: I told him to go to hell. He left after that."

"That's… tough." I whispered after a few seconds, not knowing what else to say.

The young man nodded. "It was."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, we were better off without him. And then your old friend Walther came along…" Mike shook his head, sighing. "There's no shortage of scumbags in this world."

I nodded in agreement and stared idly in front of me; Mike also remained silent for a minute. "Why are you telling me this alone?" I asked eventually.

"That wasn't the important bit." His serious, cold expression returned. "Like I said, I appreciate everything you did for Jacob, and you seem like a good person. But we both know that's not going to last. Is it true that you tried to hurt my little brother the first time you got taken over?"

I sighed, and murmured reluctantly "Yes, but Jack and I are over that."

"That's not the point." He leaned closer to me, and whispered sternly "I won't let anyone hurt him again, and that includes you. I know you can't help it, but if you try to hurt Jacob in any way whilst you're in that state, then I'll do everything I can to protect him from you. That includes hurting you."

I shrugged. "Go ahead, just don't get killed while you're at it."

Mike chuckled. "I'm harder to kill than the average young adult male. There's… another thing though." Curious, I looked down at him. He returned my gaze with sorry eyes. "I don't know if you realized it, but if Jack's seal is on the same page as your killer's, then Walther can't erase him without erasing himself. So, my little brother doesn't have to follow his rule of staying here for all eternity. Besides, the longer he stays here with you, the higher the risk of something bad happening. Do you see where I'm getting at?"

"You want to take him away from us as soon as you can." I answered flatly.

"Yes." said Mike dryly, "I'll drive him away from here after the place closes down for good, but you can't come. Not without being erased."

"And the place closes down in six days, doesn't it?"

He turned his eyes away from mine. "It does. If there was a way to get you all out and make sure nothing happened, I'd do it. I'm sorry for this."

Somehow, I wasn't too surprised with his announcement. A part of me suspected that an eventual separation from my friends was inevitable, but I wasn't prepared to say goodbye to someone again. I simply stayed in silence for a minute or two, trying to imagine our group without Jack. It was impossible.

Mike eventually stood up from his spot on the floor, stretched his back, and walked to the door. "I kinda wanted to spend some time with your friends." he murmured, trying to hide his pity for me. "Just to know you all better, you know? If you wanna come…"

"Just give me five minutes." I interrupted.

Nodding in comprehension, Mike left the kitchen without saying another word.


	43. Four nights at Freddy's

**A/N: **Welcome back guys, thanks for waiting me out again. This chapter was _very _hard to write: I had many ideas that seemed like repetitions of things that I did before, and it took some time to put it all in words. The length will hopefully make up for the wait. Also, I decided to break my own rules and update on a Monday, just because I finished this chap late last night. In between making you wait another week and just breaking a little rule _one time_, I think we can all agree that the latter is a better option.

If you're looking for a good FNaF fic before the next update, I highly recommend _House of Swords _by Primal Arc. I usually don't advertise stories, since I feel that's unfair, but that story is so well written and so tragically underrated that it deserves another rule break. Have a good week everyone, and happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 43: Four nights at Freddy****'****s**

"Why is he taking so long?" Sean sighed impatiently, glancing over his back to the clock on the wall. It was almost 11:30 at night, and Mike had yet to show up. Everyone, except Jack, was grouped together in front of the window by the front door. "He was supposed to be here at ten!" grumbled my brother.

"Maybe he got stuck in traffic?" suggested Ferny, tapping his foot.

"Profesor, it's almost midnight on a Tuesday." was Sarah's teasing reply, "Not only that, but he uses a skateboard_._"

Ferny smiled smugly at her, and answered with confidence "If he doesn't have a car, how is he going to drive away with Jack?" He then turned around towards me, and asked with more seriousness "Do you really think we should let him do this?

"I don't think we could change his mind anyways." I replied, right as the growing rattle of small plastic wheels stole my attention.

Mike's figure hovered past the window and stopped by the front door. He fumbled with his keys for just a second, making Sean give out a small exasperated sigh, before finally opening the door and entering the room. The young man finished buttoning up his purple uniform as he walked to us. "Sorry I'm late." he started in a mechanical tone, "I had to get some sleep and the alarm wasn't loud enough. Were you all waiting for me?" His eyes scanned the room quickly. "And where is my little brother?"

I put my hand on the back of my head, looking back towards west hallway. "Still in the kitchen." was my dry reply.

"He's still mad at me, isn't he?" asked the young man. I nodded.

Jack had locked himself up in the kitchen since the previous night, when Mike told him that he'd have to take him away from us. It was the first time I had seen him so upset since the few days after our murders.

Mike took a deep breath as he ran a hand though his dark hair, eyes turned low, and said with conviction "I'll try to talk to him later. For now, we have something to do."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Sarah feebly, glowing eyes filled with concern. But the man was already on his way to the office. We followed him as he started to turn to the west hallway.

"I know what I'm doing." he answered in mild irritation as he quickened his pace, "This place has been my obsession since Jacob and you were murdered. I can't turn away when we're so close to an end, when there's so little time left." We stopped in front of the office door.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Ferny, tapping his foot on the hallway's tiles.

Mike shrugged as he leaned on the doorframe, a giant piece of rectangular steel above his head. The lonely lightbulb of the office gave his purple uniform an odd hue, and the smell of bleach still lingered in the air. "Try not to die." he answered casually, seemingly unfazed by his surroundings.

"Well, good luck then." I said from the other side of the door, trying to conceal my nerves.

Raising his shoulders, Mike replied "I would normally say 'Good luck to you too', but since you _will _try to kill me, I don't think that's a good idea."

My brother huffed in amusement, and said with genuine concern "Take care of yourself, Michael."

"Don't worry, I will." After giving us a confident smile and nod, the man stepped into his office, pressed a button by the door, and immediately a thick slap of steel came down to separate us from him.

We walked back to the stage silently, not knowing what to expect for the following nights. Would his power run out? What if one of us decided to be more aggressive? But when I took my place on the stage and felt my brother's hand on my shoulder, those thoughts disappeared.

"Don, we have to trust him." he told me, looking at me in the eyes. "Like we trusted Jeremy."

I gave him a small nod as I heard the curtains of Pirate's Cove open and close. "I don't want to hurt anyone again, brother."

"I know you don't." He let my shoulder go, allowing me to see the clock on the wall. There was less than one minute left.

'Is it time again?' Bonnie's voice was strangely soft, almost lazy. He was still satisfied from his last kill. 'What a nice surprise: a new plaything for us.'

"You won't win." I whispered, "You won't hurt anyone else again."

He chuckled. 'Let's see about that. After all, it's just night one.' And with those words, the world turned black before my eyes.

* * *

I remember the first three nights as a hazy, slow blur. I was always the first one to move, followed by Chica. Freddy remained on the stage, eyeing everything with curiosity and mild interest, until the third night. The dark-brown figure then started his own version of the game, creeping through the darkest shadows of the restaurant slowly and taking pleasure in stretching out the night. Even Foxy ran to the door one time, but he was too slow. We were too slow. Mike always managed to close the door right on time, using a minimal amount of power to get through his nights. But we weren't too suprised by his skills. After all, he had been taught by the best. And in the few minutes of free time and free will before each night, the calm before the storm, we got to know him better.

* * *

Mike groaned as he stretched himself on the floor until he lay comfortably on his back, his eyes staring up at the ceiling of the dining area. "So, did any of you listen to Real Fear?" he asked without looking at anyone.

I sat on the floor a few feet by his side, with my back leaned against a table, and said "Jack and I did it all the time before I broke Jeremy's radio." I turned my head to the yellow figure sitting farthest away from Mike, his shoulders slightly sagged and his face turned away from us. Although he was sitting with us now after three nights of isolation, Jack wasn't ready to talk to his sibling. Mike knew better than to rip his little brother out of his comfort bubble, and gave him the time to come out of his own instead. "They mentioned us and interviewed someone."

"Yeah, I know. I heard that interview and tried to get a hold on the guy, but I couldn't find him." replied Mike as he turned his eyes to me. "But did you actually hear it for fun?"

"Of course." I said, "At some moment I just started to enjoy short horror stories a lot, and the show was entertaining, whether you believe in those things or not."

Mike furrowed his brow. "Wait, you guys are still skeptical about ghosts?"

"Well, yeah!" Ferny looked down at Mike with confidence from his sitting spot at the edge of the stage. "There is absolutely no proof, and scientifically speaking there is no way such a thing might exist."

The young man smiled and incredulous smile, pointing at the red mechanical body. "No proof?!" he blurted out, "_You_ _are a ghost!_ You're dead, but you're still in this world._"_

"We're not ghosts." was Fer's serious reply.

Mike grinned, raising his opened hands defensively. "Sorry, I didn't know 'ghost' was an offensive term amongst the dead." Sarah held a hand in front of the beak as she tried to stiff down a chuckle, earning a stern glare from Ferny.

My brother, who was sitting close to Fer, took the word. "Mike, we know we're not like we used to be. We were killed, and now we possess these bodies. But we like to think we're not that different from any other human in this world. We're just people."

"I was only kidding." grumbled the young man, "I'm just happy to be with my little brother once again, and to help you out. It's what's inside that counts."

Sean's eyes glowed with genuine emotion."Thank you, Mike." he whispered.

The guard shrugged casually, before looking back at Ferny. "So, you're just a regular human?" he asked. Our friend answered with a nod, and Mike smirked as he teased "Normal humans don't look like a robot pirate fox."

Ferny returned his grin, and said "Normal humans don't hang around with a robot pirate fox."

Mike clapped his hands. "And the prize to the best comeback line goes to...!" He pointed at the mechanic animal in question, who raised his hook high in appreciation. A short, small laugh took over our group, but Jack stayed quiet. An all too common silence then filled the room for a few moments.

"How does it feel like?" asked Mike suddenly, his eyes focused on nothing in particular.

"What do you mean?" replied Sarah.

"How does it feel to be like you." explained the young man, "To have the body of a machine."

We all stared at each other, dumbfounded by the sudden question. '_He really doesn't have a filter__'_ I thought. Even Jack looked back at his brother, confused and slightly reproachful.

"That's... a strange question." said Sarah flatly after a second or two. "It happened so long ago. We can barely remember anything from before that day. It feels like more than eight years."

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." assured Mike, not a trace of humor in his voice. "I don't want to bring back bad memories."

"It's okay." she said, "We don't really think about it that much. In fact, we distract ourselves from it. But I guess it's part of who we are now."

"Sarah's right." continued Ferny, "I miss being able to do the things I could do, we all feel like that. The easiest way to deal with a problem is ignoring it. But that won't help us get out."

"It wouldn't be so bad if we could actually leave this damn place." added Sean bitterly, "We can't eat or drink, we can't smell or taste. Our bodies always feel cold, and there's nothing we can do about it. We could still sleep until a year or two ago, now we lost that as well. But we're never sleepy, not even a bit."

Mike nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds weird. Have you ever been outside?"

"No." I said dryly, "We haven't." The plastic rose in my chest felt heavier when I remembered the green eyes of an erased soul; the little boy that never got to know the outside world.

"Yeah, I can see why you're tired of this nonsense." said Mike with slight disdain, "I would go crazy if I had to go through that kind of stuff, but you guys are holding up through everything. That's amazing."

Ferny tapped his foot slowly, smiling wryly at him. "I think you overestimate us. All of us broke down at least a few times. We're not heroes."

Mike shook his head. "Don't get cocky. I didn't say that you were heroes, I just said you were strong. And even when you broke down, you managed to pull through. That is quite amazing for a bunch of kids."

We exchanged awkward, satisfied glances as he said those words, before looking back at him in gratefulness. He then raised his opened hands again, and said jokingly "But you didn't hear that from me! Now get back in place you creeps, it's almost time."

The clock on the wall confirmed his words: we had fifteen minutes until midnight. I stretched my legs to unlock my servos and stood up slowly, seeing how my friends did the same. Jack didn't stand up until I was right next to him, his eyes fixed on the circle he traced lazily on a tile. "We need to hide you now, buddy." I said.

He stood up without saying a word and began to walk to the kitchen, not waiting for me. Speeding up my pace, I came up to his side. When I tried to step closer to him he recoiled sideways. Sighing, I waited until we were in front of the kitchen door before taking his hand in mine.

"Let me go." he muttered, white pinpoints cast sideways.

"Believe me, I'm feeling what you feel right now." I told him, "But your brother is doing what's best for you."

Jack shook his head, and whispered weakly "I don't want to l-leave you."

I forced out a smile. "You're gonna be okay."

It was then that a few quick, light footsteps approached down the hall. Mike walked up to us in a brisk place, his head lowered. He stopped when he was next to me, and said to his brother "Jack, there's no use in being mad at me. That won't change anything. But I promise you that we will find a way to help your friends, okay?"

I looked back at Mike, wondering how he was planning to do that. If that was a false promise, why was there such conviction in his eyes?

Jack looked up at his brother shyly, before giving him a little nod. "Okay." he whispered.

"And remember that you cannot leave this kitchen, for anything." added Mike sternly, "Promise that no matter what happens to me, you won't put yourself in danger, okay?"

Looking at him with apprehension, Jack answered with a nod of his head and a reluctant "Okay."

Smiling, the guard laid a hand on his brother's dark-yellow shoulders. "Just two more to go. Take care little brother."

"You too, Mikey." Jack returned his warm smile as he opened the door and stepped into the kitchen, before closing and locking it behind him.

"So…" Crossing his arms, Mike turned around to see me. "Night four, huh?"

"Yes." I answered uneasily.

"Has anyone made it this far, besides Jeremy?"

Sighing, I scratched the back of my head. "No. They always quit after two nights, or… you know."

Mike nodded, before giving me a quick pat on the shoulder and walking to the office. "Go easy on me, bunny boy." he called out from the bottom of the west hallway.

I raised my hand, waved at the purple silhouette and walked back to the show stage. Two more nights, and this hellish routine would be over.

* * *

Two more nights, and our last chance to kill would disappear.

I was sitting on the wood of the show stage, annoyed and impatient. Why was it so hard to get this guard? Sighing in irritation, I took a quick look at the clock on the wall: 4 AM.

"We need a plan." started Freddy, arms crossed and voice low. "We can't win like this."

"We need to _get him!__"_ protested Chica, "We're wasting time playing with his power, going to his office and back like a bunch of idiots!"

The bear sighed. "What's the fun in murdering someone if it ends quickly?" His square teeth formed a sinister smile as he looked at her. "It's always better to build a bit of tension."

Chica groaned in irritation, before glaring at Pirate's Cove behind me. "How many times has he dashed tonight?" she demanded harshly.

"Three." was Freddy's calm answer.

"It's always better to build a bit of tension." I whispered to myself, as an idea formed inside my mind.

"Why can't he go again?" questioned Chica.

"Because he's waiting for the right moment." replied Freddy, slightly less patient. "I'm going now, before it gets later."

"Wait a minute." I stood up from my spot, energized by the promises of my idea. "Maybe there's a way to beat this guard, without ruining our fun.

Chica turned around slowly, until her purple eyes were fixed on me. "I'm listening."

* * *

The sound of the steel door closing was music to my ears. In the last 90 minutes, Foxy and I had seen how our two playmates focused all their efforts on one side of the office. The west hallway's door was shut almost permanently, but they never just lingered outside the office. Chica and Freddy took turns, going to the door one after the other. The human couldn't afford the luxury of shutting the east hallway's door, and the constant attacks from the west made him forget about Foxy and me; a grave mistake.

"It's time, don't you think?" I said to the faux pirate.

He grinned in joy, sharp fangs peaking from red fur. "It was a good idea, Bonnie."

I stared at the dark hallway in front of me, and hissed in warning "It was, so don't ruin it now. Don't give him one chance."

The grin disappeared off Foxy's face, and with one swift pull, he parted the curtains. Not one second later, he was running as fast as he could down the hallway. Naked metal feet battered the tiles in a fast rhythm, going farther and farther from me, and with one smooth turn, they entered the office before the man could close the door. Victory.

I walked speedily to the room, a smile growing on my face, and arrived by the opened door just in time to see Foxy's hook trace a silver arc in the air and a deep scarlet gash in the man's face.

The human fell down as he held a hand on his bleeding cheek, glaring daggers at the fox. My playmate promptly laid a foot on top of the guard's heaving chest whilst I opened the west door. Freddy and Chica stepped inside, surprised by our success.

"Brandon, come on."pleaded the man, turning his eyes to me. "I thought we were friends."

I walked up to him triumphantly as he tried to escape from Foxy's weight, with no results. "Are you a friend of that kid?"

He smiled at my question. A few thick blood drops reached the corner of his lips. "I like to think I am."

"Then we'll make you suffer even more."

An incredulous expression replaced the man's smile as Freddy and Chica grabbed him by his hands. Foxy raised his foot, allowing them to drag him out of the office and into the west hallway. The man kicked and flailed uselessly as a spark of pure anger burned in his eyes.

"Look at the bright side!" I taunted when he laid that furious gaze on me, "You made it quite far!"

We walked merrily through the hallway, until something in front of the kitchen made us stop abruptly. I stepped to the side of Chica, and scowled when I saw a golden suit standing awkwardly in our way.

"Bucky?" I asked, hoping for a yes. He shook his head awkwardly, and I tightened my hands into fists. "So, you're the kid that won't let him out."

"L-Let him go, please." he begged miserably.

"Jacob, what are you doing?!" The man turned his head around to look at the figure. "I told you to stay away!"

"Listen to him, kid." I muttered, "And get out of our way. It will be over soon."

But the child didn't move. He simply muttered an uneasy "No."

I shrugged. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

When Freddy let go of the man and took a couple of long, threatening steps to his golden counterpart, the child raised his opened hand at him. "Stop!" he shrieked, and the brown animatronic did as he said. I stared at Freddy's paralyzed body from behind for a second or two, ready to yell at him to do something, when he fell to a side like dead weight without glimmer of light in his blue eyes. The kid let out a low sigh, leaning against a wall with his hand as if recovering from exhaustion.

_His blood seal. _I thought, _Freddy__'__s going to be one of the dead brats again in a few minutes._

Chica growled in fury as she let go of the man and started to walk to the kid, slowly and menacingly. The guard tried to stand up and escape, but Foxy was faster. In two steps, he had his foot on top of the young man again. Meanwhile, the yellow figure stepped closer to the suit, her balled fists trembled at her sides. "How many can you take out, huh?!" she bellowed, purple eyes glowing wickedly.

The child only raised his opened hand at her slowly, and I saw her body lock up just like Freddy's, staying still as a statue for a couple of seconds before falling sideways with an echoing _bang._ Panting heavily, the kid slid down against the wall, his tiny eyes of white light fading in and out slowly. His head hung to a side; it seemed like he would give out at any moment.

"He's done for." I told Foxy, "He's too tired to do anything to us. Take that piece of meat to the backstage. I'll deal with our friend."

He nodded in agreement as a familiar hint of bloodlust shone through his eyes, and started to drag the man away by his feet. When I walked up to the exhausted yellow bear he slowly raised his opened hand to me, barely managing to keep it up for a few seconds, before letting it fall again. Nothing happened.

"What's the problem, fake Bucky?" I teased, staring down at his slumped-down body. "Too tired to help that guy?" He didn't answer, only turned his head with great effort to the man, who was trying to take hold of anything with his hands as he was dragged through the dining area. "Do you remember what I told you all that time ago, when you tried to stop our game?"

Catching his breath, he croaked out "You would b-break me apart. Until I looked… like the pile of trash I was."

"Well done! That's exactly what I said!" I beamed, before kicking his torso and sides. He let out a low whimpers of pain, grinding his teeth together with each blow. "You know I don't like to break promises." Pulling back my leg, I saw how he squirmed miserably at my feet. "If I said I'll tear you apart, I'll just have to keep my word."

"Don't hurt him!" The man screamed desperately from the dining area. I turned around to see him still trying to free himself from Foxy's grip, glaring at me with watery blue eyes. "Leave him out of this, please!"

"Too bad he decided to get himself in this in the first place!" I yelled back, "Don't worry, this will be easy and quick!" Turning my eyes back to the figure at my feet, who was whimpering softly on his hands and knees, I whispered "You're not even going to fight back? How pathetic. Is it because you don't want to hurt your little friend?" He didn't answer, he didn't even make a sound. "After we kill this guard and after I tear you apart, he will no longer exist. If Walther killed his body, I'll kill his spirit."

"I'm t-tired of you." hissed back the figure at my feet.

His sudden, hard blow to my lower leg took me by surprise. Having lost my balance I fell on my knees, just to receive a harder punch against the side of my face.

"I'm tired of you!" he cried out in pain and anger, "I'm t-tired of what you're doing to him!" A round metal knuckle connected with my jaw. "You make him hurt others all the time! He's n-not like that!" I fell flat on my chest when he brought his fists down on my head. "He is my friend, but I hate you_! I hate you!__"_

Groaning, I watched him stand up on shaky legs in front of me and take a few steps towards the dining area. He limped in the direction of Foxy, who was almost at the backstage door, his hand wrapped securely around the man's ankle as he eyed us warily. I tried to stand up, but my leg still stung from that single blow fueled by hate. On my hands and knees, I saw how the golden bear raised his opened hand at the red animatronic. Foxy's glowing eyes filled with surprise for just one second, but that glow soon faded away like a candle that was snuffed out. He fell forward like a dead tree, and the man promptly pulled his feet out of his lifeless hand. Scrambling up to his feet, the young man stared at his savior with wide, unbelieving eyes.

The child let out a long, tired sigh as he lowered his hand. He stayed completely still for a few seconds, then he fell on his knees, before his body collapsed to a side; those pinpoints of light in his eyes had disappeared completely.

I finally managed to put my body on my weakened legs. The guard took a few steps back as I walked past the inert bodies of Freddy, Chica and at last Bucky. He kept glaring daggers at me as I went through the dining area, before finally opening the door of the backstage and stepping in. I quickened my pace as much as I could, limping and stumbling between the tables. But when I reached the door and tried to open it, it was locked.

"Coward." I growled, pulling on the handle with all my strength. "Open the door!" Seeing red, I banged my fists against the wood; the door rattled on its hinges. _"__Open the door!__"_ I took a few steps back and rammed my body against it, ignoring the pain. A blood-thirsty chuckle escaped my mouth when I felt the lock give out slightly. One more hit, and the prize was mine.

But a pair of massive arms wrapped themselves around my body and arms, pulling me away roughly. Stunned, I tried to force myself out to no avail.

"So, you're the thing that's trying to take over my little brother's mind." a familiar voice said in my ear.

"That brat is dead!" I spat back in anger as I twisted in his arms, "Let me go and help me kill this guard!"

Freddy pretended to hum thoughtfully, before saying "I think I'm over that. Don't worry Don, you'll be back to normal soon."

Groaning and growling, I struggled against him for long minutes, until exhaustion finally got the best of me. I raised my head to the clock on the wall weakly, just as it was about to read 6 AM. "So… you two are brothers?" I huffed, out of strength.

He was panting himself, but his grip was strong as ever. "Yes… we are. And I love him."

Some church bells rang in the distance six times. As soon as the chime was over, I felt a familiar tiredness come over me. "You still love him after everything?"

"You would never understand." was his stern answer, "You are nothing more than hate."

Shaking my head, chuckling softly in amusement, I whispered "You're fools." A deep, dark sleep took over me. "Your days are numbered… ours have barely started." My body gave out in his arms as I finally lost consciousness with a comforting thought in my mind.

We still had one chance.


	44. Night five

**A/N: **Welcome back guys, to another _very_ late update. They said this semester was easy... they were wrong. I have more work than ever, but I hope I'll be able to somehow not make you wait too much between chapters. One option is making them shorter, but I honestly don't feel like cutting back on the length, since 4000 word chaps allow me to advance a lot in the plot with a single update. Nevertheless, I'd like you to let me know if you'd like to receive shorter chapters a bit more often.

I'm quite happy about this one, since it contains a scene I played in my head and modified multiple times. Let me know how you like it, and as always, happy reading! Thanks a lot for sticking with me through these long waits.

* * *

**Chapter 44: Night five**

Mike hissed as he cleaned up the deep gash on his cheek with a paper towel. The moistened pulp turned pink, sucking up the last of the undried blood. He applied pressure to the broken skin for a few more seconds, before dropping the used towel in the trash bin next to the sink of the men's restroom.

"Sorry about that." mumbled an ashamed Ferny. His tall red figure seemed to fill up the whole bathroom corridor, giving the rest of us a cramped feeling as we waited for Mike.

The young man shrugged, before saying casually "I've had worse. A few band aids, a good nap, and I'll be good as new. I'm more worried about Jacob."

It had been around an hour since the end of the night, and Jack was still unconscious. We had placed his body on top of a blanket, giving him a somewhat-comfortable place to rest before waking up.

"He'll be alright." I replied, turning my head to catch Mike's wary gaze in the mirror, "This has happened a couple of times before.

The guard sighed, turning around to me with a worried expression, before whispering "Is it true that he'll try to kill me tonight?"

"Yes." was Sarah's dry answer, "And we will, too. It's… it won't be easy to survive. Are you sure that…"

"Yes, I am." interrupted Mike, slightly irritated. "He wouldn't hurt me."

"Michael, I'm not so sure about that." replied my brother cautiously.

"I said I'm _sure _he can't hurt me!" was Mike's irritated answer. Letting out a raspy sigh, he shook his head. "He can't." he muttered under his breath as he opened his way in between us through the bathroom corridor, "He won't."

"I'm sure he won't." lied Sean, trying to calm down the man, "But be careful, just in case."

Mike nodded slightly in agreement, and I couldn't help but feel an air of insecurity in his upset demeanor. He stood still in the gloomy, grey corridor for almost a minute, his half-lidded gaze low to the floor. It seemed as if he was lost in thought, whilst at the same time having a blank mind. After a minute of silence, he finally said in a slow, low voice "I'm sorry. It's simply that, well, you don't know what he means to me."

"I'm quite sure I do." replied Sean, putting a hand on my shoulder that forced a smile out of me. In those years of distance, it was the little things I missed the most.

The guard's lips curled up ever so slightly. "Yeah, maybe you do."

* * *

Another empty, monotonous day came and went without highlights. Whilst locked up on the stage, waiting for the night to come, I couldn't help but wonder how Jack was doing in the backstage room. If he were to be taken over by Bucky, Mike's chances would go from bad to nearly nonexistent.

But we tried not to think about that when the last costumers, followed shortly by Erik, left the building. As soon as the manager put us in free-roam mode, I went over to Jack, just to find him slumped against the wall with his arms around his body, shivering and trembling slightly. He raised his head to me for a moment, a hint of warmth and friendliness visible in his eyes, before lowering his stare again.

"It's that cold again, right?" I asked softly as I sat down by his side.

Without looking at me, Jack gave me a jerky nod, and said "It f-feels like I'm f-freezing inside."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"Don't l-let Mike see me like this." was his immediate answer, "When he c-comes here, try to k-keep him away from me."

I nodded, having no idea how I was supposed to accomplish that. "Is there anything else?"

Jack stared sideways, and mumbled somewhat shyly "C-can you please stay w-with me for a while?"

I put my hand on his shoulder, and a timid smile appeared on his face. "Of course I can."

We waited together for Mike to arrive, doing nothing more than enjoying each other's company. After an hour or two we heard the front door open. "I'll come back in a few minutes." I told Jack. He answered with a slight nod as I opened the door of the backstage and stepped into the dining area, just in time to see Mike drop his skateboard on the floor carelessly.

Ferny pulled open the curtain from Pirate's Cove, before stepping down to the dining area's floor. "Well, you did come after all!" he said aloud, not bothering to mask his surprise.

Sarah came out of the Cove a moment later, looking around with slight confusion, until her purple eyes finally locked on the man. "Welcome back Mikey!" was her cheerful greeting. Mike only answered with a small hand wave and awkward smile as he came closer to me

"You're early." I called out, discretely closing the door of the backstage room.

"Yeah, I am." he mumbled as he stared back at me uneasily, a far cry from his usual confidence and humor. "Where's your brother?"

As if on cue, Sean came walking from the west hallway with a book in his hand. "I'm here. Is there anything wrong?"

Mike stared at him with an expression that left no room for doubt. Sarah and Ferny then approached the man, a growing feeling of worry visible in their colored eyes. The guard waited until the four of us were forming a tight circle around him, and sighed as he looked at my brother in the eyes. "I got a call this morning, after I left the place. It was from the hospital. Jeremy's girlfriend found him lying on the kitchen floor, unconscious. He's stable, but in a coma. From what I've heard, the doctors aren't very sure that he'll recover. That's all they told me."

Momentarily numb from the news, I saw how my brother shook his head in slight disbelief. Sarah and Ferny were petrified, staring silently through Mike. The guard then turned to me, thinking I was the most composed of our group. "I'm sorry." he continued, "I wanted to come here early, to give you a bit of time. I thought about telling you after the night, but it didn't seem right."

"Thanks." I stuttered out mechanically, as the weight of the news finally dawned on me. To be honest, part of me was expecting something like this to happen; Jeremy had warned us that he could relapse at any moment. But that still didn't make it any easier.

Mike waited a minute or two for us to calm down, before pulling an envelope out of his jacket's inner pocket and walking up to Sean. "Your cousin wanted me to give you this, in case something happened. He told me not to look into it. I can open it for you if you want, but I promise I won't see what's inside."

Unable to look at Mike in the eyes, my brother nodded silently in appreciation. The guard then tore open the envelope as he kept his eyes on a distant corner, and handed it to Sean. With clumsily, trembling fingers, he let the contents of the envelope slide down on his hand.

A yellowed photograph came to rest on Sean's faux fur, along with a crudely-written note. I stepped next to my brother, and felt my insides twist with bittersweet nostalgia as I saw the picture clearly. It was us, the real us. Sean, Dad, Mom, and me, smiling gleefully at the camera next to Dad's police car. As a three year old, I was nothing more than a little bump of clothes and flesh in my father's arms, but I still recognized my brother's face along with mine. A flood of memories came crashing unto me, and I rested my hand on Sean's shoulders to avoid tumbling down.

I hadn't realized I was crying, until I sobbed to my brother, "D-do you remember this?"

He nodded slowly, and fighting back his tears, whispered shakily "I… I think Jeremy took this picture. But he said he didn't have any."

Our glowing eyes turned to light up the letter immediately and simultaneously. From the coarse characters, it was clear that Jeremy took the giant effort to write it by hand. The knot in my throat grew as I read:

_Sean, Brandon, Sarah, Ferny, Jack,_

_If you are reading this, my body finally betrayed me, and I'm afraid I won't be able to bring puzzles and books to you again. I'm either dead, dying, or in a coma with little hopes of waking up. There's so much I want to say, and so little paper to write on. But I'm happy to think that you know the most important: you're still my family and friends, and I care for you as such._

_Believe it or not, I have no regrets of taking that job back in '87. Being able to tell you all the things I never got the chance to say was well worth the risk. I have no hard feelings against you, Mangle, or the rest of the Toys. You couldn't help yourselves, and despite the darkness that now lives in your hearts, I know that the good in you is stronger. Please, don't forget that, or your time will be cut short. _

_Through it all, I only wish I could've spent more time with you. I still believe there's a chance to free yourselves from that curse, and I hope you can find that answer with Mike's help. This is as far as I can go. I'm sure you noticed the old Polaroid I took in '82. The quality isn't the best, but hopefully you'll see past that. Brandon, Sean, your parents were amazing people, and you have their best traits. No matter how dark and surreal your situation, look at that photo and remember: this is who you are. _

_Who knows? Maybe I'm not dead and I'll be able to make a recovery. If you're still around, we'll be able to joke about this letter. But if that's not my fate, I hope you'll be able to reach your goal, so we can meet again with your mom and dad in a better place. Whatever happens, I'll be waiting._

_Your cousin,_

_Jeremy._

"Jerry, you idiot." My brother stuttered hoarsely, shaking his head slowly. "You lost so much, and you still wanted to give us more." The letter and photo trembled along with his hand, and he handed them to Mike when he realized he couldn't hold them. "If you had only listened to us and left us alone, you… y-you…"

Joining Sean in his whimpers, I simply wrapped my arms around him, and laid my head on his shoulder. He did the same, and together we mourned the last family member we had left. After a minute, I felt another metal hand on my shoulder, and I didn't need to open my eyes to see Ferny and Sarah right next to us, sharing our burden. What surprised me was the relatively small, human hand that patted my shoulder.

"I'm sorry." whispered Mike with genuine emotion, "He's truly an amazing guy, just like you. I'll give you some time." He sighed, "Again, I'm very sorry." Sobbing on Sean´s shoulder, I heard his footsteps fade away from us.

* * *

When I entered the backstage room, I was only mildly surprised to see Mike sitting next to Jack, who gave me a somewhat reproachful stare. I failed miserably at keeping the two brothers separated. "It's almost twelve." was my awkward announcement; I didn't want to be so close to Mike, so close to midnight.

Jack turned to the man, and stuttered out through chattering teeth, "You should l-leave the b-building."

Mike stood up from his spot on the floor slowly and reluctantly, just to bow down and lay a hand on Jack's own. "I'm not doing that, little brother." he said, softly yet firmly.

Shaking his head slowly, Jack croaked out "What if I h-hurt you."

"That won't happen." assured Mike, tightening his grip on the yellow fur. "I promise you, that won't happen."

Jack lowered his head, more in defeat than acceptance, and after letting out a little sigh, mumbled "Take c-care, Mikey."

The young man managed to give him a small, reassuring smile, but it disappeared when he turned to face me. His insecurity then shone through his blue eyes like a beacon as he laid a hand on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear, "If anything happens, take good care of him." I nodded solemnly, slightly taken aback, and saw him leave the room with rapid steps. There were still a few minutes left, so I sat down next to Jack, giving him some company whilst I could.

He stayed silent for a few seconds, trembling and twitching. "I've b-been thinking about s-something." he eventually said, his voice softer than usual.

"And what's that?"

His white pinpoints flicked sideways for just a moment, and he whispered "I saw some chains b-behind a box. C-could you tie me up?"

Stunned, I stared at him intently. "I'm not going to do that to you."

"Please…" he begged, turning to see me with fading points of white light, "Just do it. Mikey would never b-be okay with it, but he d-doesn't understand... how d-dangerous I am."

Shaking my head, I replied sternly, "I won't tie you up to something like a rabid dog."

"_Do it."_ The light vanished from his eyes for a second, revealing the monster that was hiding behind them. Those two black holes seemed to suck me in, hungry for something to devour, but then a weak flash of light reignited them. Jack covered his face in shame as he turned away from me. "P-please, just do it." he whimpered, "Before it's t-too late."

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and walked to the back of the room. A large cardboard box rested on the farthest corner, right next to a shelf lined with heads. I shoved the box aside clumsily, revealing a metal chain a couple of feet long. It wasn't too long or thick, but with a couple of wraps, even our bodies wouldn't be able to break it.

Jack shuffled himself next to the large metal table of the room, and leaned his back against one of its legs. Reluctantly, I laid the chain over his chest and wrapped it around his body and the table's leg a couple of times, making sure not to do so tighter than necessary. Three regular knots later, and my friend's shivering body and arms were imprisoned by the chains.

"Thank you." he whispered meekly with a lowered head, "Please, d-don't let Mikey see me like this."

"I'll try not to." I replied uncomfortably, wishing that there was another way to help the guard.

Sensing my reluctance, Jack said softly, "It's b-better like this. Go."

I nodded, turned back towards the grey door, and walked quickly back to the Show Stage. But when I was about to reach Sean and Sarah, both looking anxiously at the clock from the stage, it happened. A powerful, burning pain in my chest stopped me right in my tracks. Growling lowly, clutching at me chest, I felt the world spin around me as his voice filled my head.

'Stupid brat.' sneered Bonnie, 'Making friends with a dead man.' I fell on my knees. 'Don't you remember what happened yesterday? How close we were to winning this game? Do you really think he has a chance with five of us?'

"N-No…" I held my head, feeling as if it was about to burst, "Stop!"

'But I don't want to stop.' His perverse laughter seemed to fill the room all round me. 'And you won't either, Brandon. Not until I finish you.'

I collapsed to the floor with a small cry, twisting and writhing as I lost control. For once second the image of a small child in my father's arms crossed my mind, then there was nothing but a dark, overpowering desire to feel the blood of a man on my hands.

Opening my eyes, I lifted myself off the floor, dusted my knees, and smiled. "Much better." I gazed at the Show Stage just in time to see Freddy and Chica open their eyes as well, and they turned to see me with a dead, cold and familiar stare. "Welcome back, Bonnie." said the bear.

* * *

It wasn't long until the four of us were after the man, attacking the office from our usual routes with far more aggressiveness than ever before. I was close to securing victory multiple times, but the man managed to slam the door in my face in the last moment. My initial enthusiasm turned into bitter frustration after a couple of hours, and though I knew he was using way too much power to last the night, I didn't feel like waiting.

It must've been close to four in the morning when I heard a distant, dull banging from the backstage. Being in the dining area, I immediately turned towards the familiar grey door. The bangs only grew louder as I approached the small room, but they stopped suddenly when I reached for the doorknob. Surprised, I turned my head for a moment. A pot clattered in the kitchen, surely Chica's doing. The curtains of Pirate's Cove were freshly closed, and there was no sign of Freddy. Shrugging, I stepped into the room, only stumble back in surprise when I saw a familiar golden figure tied to a table.

Bucky's head was lowered, his empty black eyes staring down solemnly. I burst out in laughs after finally processing the image in front of me, and held on to a nearby shelf to avoid tumbling down. The most powerful and dangerous of us all, tied up and imprisoned like a damsel in distress.

He slowly lifted his head to me after I had regained a bit of control, and demanded in his slow, raspy voice "Get me out of here."

That only made me laugh louder. "W-Why?!" I wheezed, "Look at you! Tied up and useless!" Chuckling, I shook my head. "Your kid was the reason this guard is still alive. You almost erased me seven years ago in the old location, and we still lost." The amusement was drained from my voice with each word, replaced by disdain. "You only show up on the fifth night, and you hide away from us in the meantime. I don't care what you can do with that blood seal of yours. You're still pathetic."

Buck stayed as silent as a corpse, staring at me with empty eye sockets. Without any physical eyes, it was impossible to tell if he was looking at me or through me. "Get me out of here." he repeated mechanically, his tone low and cold.

Smirking, I replied smugly "What if I say no?"

An explosion of pain in my chest was the answer. Roaring through clenched teeth, I stumbled backwards against the nearest shelf. "S-Stop it!" I shrieked, "_Stop erasing me!_"

"What if I say no?" Another dose of agonizing pain wrecked my body, and I felt myself slip in and out of consciousness. One second I was leaning against the shelf, the next I was groaning on the floor like an animal. I remembered that Buck would not hesitate to finish me off.

"Okay!" I croaked out, "Anything, j-just stop! _Stop!__"_

The pain disappeared immediately. My body laid curled on the floor, and I panted with exhaustion as I regained my senses. I slowly turned up my head towards the yellow animatronic a few feet to my right, who stared back at me with cold indifference. "Hurry up. We don't have all night."

Huffing in annoyance and tiredness, I stood up slowly and walked to the back of the table. The three knots were easy to undo, and as soon as he felt the tension loose up, Bucky threw the chains to a side angrily. Not saying a word, but with visible rage hidden in his empty stare, he marched out of the room without looking back at me. I had no choice but to stumble my way behind him, and we arrived to a crowded dining area. Freddy, Chica and Foxy turned around almost simultaneously, clearly surprised.

"Where were you?" demanded Chica somewhat harshly, but she was silenced immediately by a single, well-timed glare from Buck. He walked to the kitchen quickly, and emerged after a minute or two with a large knife between his round fingers. Then, he continued on his way to the office with slow and determined steps, not paying attention to anything or anyone.

"What are you doing?" I hissed as I caught up to him, followed by everyone else. "You're just going to step inside and end it all?"

"Yes." he muttered, "I don't care for your stupid games. You had your time."

I was about to protest, but we were already besides the office. "He won't just let you in."

"Let's see about that." was Buck's confident reply, right as the door in front of us slammed shut. He then stopped in front of the tiny window of the office, and banged on the Plexiglas a couple of times with enough force to make the walls shake. With a tone that was very different from his hoarse and cold voice, he wailed in out in desperation "Open the door, Mikey! They found m-me!"

I then remember that Bucky could keep many more memories of his other self than us. "Jack, is that you?!" The guard's surprised voice was muffled by the door's thick steel. "How is it possible? I thought you were…"

"I d-don't know!" interrupted the bear, before crying out "It's me! It's me! Please Mikey, I'm s-scared. I'm s-so scared, and…" He paused for just a second. "They're here! Let m-me in, please!"

Not five seconds later, the steel door rose up triumphantly, and I couldn't help but smile when the guard stepped out of the room quickly. He stared at us all with confusion, and when he finally realized his mistake, Bucky's stained yellow hand clamped down on his throat, lifted him in the air and slammed him against a wall. "I caught you." he whispered giddily, momentarily betraying his cold personality.

The man's eyes widened with fear when he saw the knife in Buck's hand. Despaired, he tried to pry off the powerful mechanical fingers around his neck, before realizing it was useless. Craning his neck, he managed to get a few breaths of air. "Please, Jacob…" he rasped out, "You're not this _thing! _You're my little brother!"

Bucky smirked. "Your little brother was murdered eight years ago. His throat was slit open with a kitchen knife, and he bled out on the dirty floor. It took a long time for his heart to stop beating." The guard's eyes welled up with silvery tears. "He grew cold as warm blood poured out of his body, and all the while he wondered where his brother was." A single tear rolled off the man's cheek to the yellow fur below. "Where were you when they killed him, Mike? Eating pizza? Playing arcades? Or maybe just watching the band play on stage?"

Sobbing softly, the guard whimpered out "I'm so sorry… I'm s-so sorry, Jack. I should've been there. But p-please, don't kill me. I know you can hear me, little brother."

"Mike… I'm not going to kill you." replied Bucky lowly, allowing a spark of hope to appear in the man's eyes. "No, of course not. I'm going to _break _you." He lifted the knife to his neck, and rested the blade on the soft skin. "I'm going to slice open your throat, not too deep, not too shallow. Just enough to give you lots of time, so that your little brother can feel how you bleed out in his arms." With a swift movement, he placed the knife's point right under the man's chin, and I saw a millimeter or two of the tip penetrate his skin.

I was expecting the guard to scream, shout, beg. Instead, he simply stretched his hand towards Bucky's broad chest, and traced a circle on it with the point of his finger. Stunned, the bear looked down on it. "Do you remember that, Jack?" whispered the man softly, a sad smile on his face, "We did it all the time when you were five, when Mom wasn't home. You drew a circle around my heart, and I drew a circle around yours. It calmed you down. Don't you remember?"

Pure silence filled the hallway. I was fixed on the point of that knife, waiting for it to bury itself into the young man's neck. "I know you remember." he continued with a cracked voice, "When you turned seven you stopped doing it with me. You said you were too old. It broke my heart, you know? It really did." Another tear fell on Bucky's trembling hand. "But you s-still traced those circles on the floor, when you thought I wasn't watching. When y-you were alone and needed to calm yourself down, you still found a way to be with m-me. I'm sure you haven't stopped." With tears flowing freely from his eyes, the guard traced another circle on the creature's chest. "And I know my little brother's heart is still in there, alive."

The clock ticked in the distance. A tiny droplet of blood ran from the man's scratched chin to the knife's blade, still pressed against the skin. Buck stared intently at the man for a few seconds, and I felt my hands twitching with impatience. But that anxiousness soon turned into surprise, when the knife slipped off Bucky's hand and clattered on the floor. "Mikey…" he half-whimpered, half-laughed, as two dots of clean white light appeared in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

A broad smile appeared on the man's face as Buck finally released the grip on his neck, and the two embraced each other with a love and intimacy that was only possible between brothers.

But I was having none of it.

"What the hell are you doing, you useless piece of trash?!" I roared, stomping my way towards them with balled fists. "Kill him! That's what we're here for, that's what we've been trying to do for five nights! Do you want me to tear you apart?! Do you want me to do it myself?! _Kill him!__"_

The last thing I saw before falling unconscious was Bucky's opened hand, pointed right at me.


	45. Closed

**A/N: **Welcome back guys, thanks again for your patience.

I originally didn't plan for such a long chapter, but I went over my notes and realized there is still a bunch of stuff to clear up before ending the tape. This chap is a bit more lighthearted than the previous two or three, just to soften things up a little bit before the finale, and yes, the _actual _end is actually not that far away at this point!

As always, I appreciate everyone who lets me know what they liked and/or didn't like. Take care, happy early Easter, and happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 45: Closed**

"I told you my little brother wouldn't hurt me!" Mike boasted with a confident smile as he laid an arm around Jack's back. The latter looked down, slightly embarrassed, but he couldn't stop a smile from appearing on his face. We were all grouped together in the dining area, waiting for the sun to come up. Despite Jeremy's news, there was a feeling of closure in the air, perhaps even relaxation. Mike had managed to survive five nights, and there would be no more night guards.

"I think Jack's blood seal made the difference again." stated a thoughtful Ferny, his stripped metal foot tapping softly on the floor, "That has always given him a bit more resistance."

"Or maybe it was just the power of love." replied Sarah airily, her voice somewhat teasing.

Fer turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Sarah, that's not a logical explanation."

She shrugged. "I know professor, I just like it more."

My brother stepped between them right when Ferny readied his counterargument. "Whatever the cause, we're happy that you made it out okay." he said.

The guard answered with a thankful smile and as he tightened his embrace on his brother. Though delighted, Jack flicked his pinpoint eyes to me for just a moment, and we shared the same bittersweet thought: he would be gone soon. What would happen to him? What would happen to us?

"You're quiet bunny boy." Mike's semi-serious statement interrupted my train of thoughts. "What's wrong?"

Slightly stunned, I laid my hand behind my head as I replied "Just… thinking about what will happen." The guard nodded in acceptance, but I knew it was clear to him what was in my mind.

"I can't believe that this place is closing today." Sean sighed with nostalgia, closing his eyes. "It feels like so long ago, but I can still remember it like yesterday. We were so happy here until it happened." He shook his head. "I wonder how long it'll be until this is all forgotten."

"More than you think." assured Mike firmly, "I'm glad this hellhole is getting shut. No one else will have to go through the things you've been through, or the things I've been through. It's for the best."

"Maybe it is." interrupted Sarah with a curiously cheery tone. "Even so, lots of kids will grow up with happy memories of this place, even of us! It doesn't make up for anything, but knowing that still makes me feel good."

"Good for you. But I swear I could burn this place to the ground one day." Mike raised his opened hands to shoulder height. "Don't get mad at me, I'm just saying."

"I think I agree with you." added Ferny. "Some secrets are best left hidden. Nothing good will come out of more people knowing about us."

"What about you, private?" asked Sean with curiosity. "Are you happy that this place is closing down?"

I stared at the dull walls and the checkered tiles, the cardboard stars hanging from a stained ceiling, the different rooms that were covered in blood at different moments: I knew them all so well. Disgusted by the memories they brought up, I was about to agree with Mike and Ferny. Then, as the sun started to rise, a single ray of golden light fell down on a table lined with party hats. The same hats that many kids wore to celebrate their birthdays, the same hats that we used to wear so long ago. Simple cheap hats that had seen many smiles through the years.

"I just wish things were different." was my soft answer, "So we could still come here and have fun like we used to."

"Even at sixteen?" questioned and incredulous Ferny.

"Even at sixteen." I replied firmly.

"Interesting." Fer tapped his foot thoughtfully, as if weighting my argument against his. "You may have a point."

"So… what do we do now?" asked Mike. "I'm happy to be alive, sure. But you're still going to be trapped in those bodies, and if you stay for too long your evil selves will take over completely."

"We'll think of something." was Sean's calm answer, "But we need to take the red book away from Walther. Securing that thing means he can't harm most of us. After that, we'll figure out a way to erase him without doing the same to Jack. And then it's over."

"What do you mean with 'most of us'?" questioned Mike, "Your second set of blood seals are all in there, right?"

"Eh, not exactly." I interrupted, scratching the back of my head softly. The young man immediately turned his eyes to mine. "There's a little problem. Walther tore the page with my blood seal out of the book, right before erasing the Toys. That was seven years ago at the old location. He said that if any of us wanted to take the book from him, he'd reach into his pocket and erase me." I was surprised how casual I sounded, almost like I wasn't describing one of the worse nights I've ever had.

"Yup, that's a problem." Frowning thoughtfully, Mike stared down at the dirty floor for a few seconds, before saying "Do you know if that's true?"

"No idea." answered Ferny, "However, it'd make sense. Since he _always_ carries the book with him, having Brandon's seal handy is a good way to make sure we won't steal it. As much as I hate to admit it, it's a pretty clever move. If we go for Brandon's page, he'll break one of the seals in the book. And if we go for the seals in the book, he'll break Brandon's page."

Mike shrugged. "That's tricky, but we just need to be smarter than him. What does your seal look like, Brandon? Jeremy told me they're all slightly different."

"Tough question." I mumbled. "The main pattern is the same for everyone: an inverted pentagram inside a circle, that's also inside a triangle. They're smaller than a man's palm. But they all have something beside them that make them unique. In Sean's case, it's like a really crude bear head. Walther had something similar to a star in the lower left corner of the triangle. Jack had the same star, but at the top. Marionette had it drawn on the lower right corner. Those are the three special seals."

Scratching my head more heavily, I tried to picture Walther holding my page triumphantly in front of me, proud of the pain he caused. "I think my page had a simple symbol on the right. It was like a big 'Y', but the base was thick and round."

"Like two sticks coming out of something in an angle?" asked Mike. I shrugged with slight uncertainty. "Or maybe the ears and head of a rabbit?" I nodded with more security, feeling dumb for not realizing that until now.

"That makes a lot of sense." said Sean with enthusiasm, resting his finger under his chin. "Just like me, Don's seal represents the thing he was meant to become."

Mike took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as someone who is trying to process something difficult. "That's interesting, but a bit hard to follow." He stretched his arms, trying to stifle down a yawn and failing, before checking his watch. "It's a bit past 7, you're opening up in less than an hour, and I want to sleep. I'll see you later today."

The young man then walked back to Jack and gave him a quick hug. "See you later, little brother." he whispered warmly.

Jack returned the hug. "Bye bye Mikey." He then broke the embrace, allowing Mike to walk back to the front door and grab his skateboard.

I couldn't help but sigh as Jack came to my side, his body now intensely golden thanks to the early morning light. When I saw Mike open the door, I couldn't help but ask in a raised voice "When are you coming for Jack? You said that you'd take him away as soon as the place closed down. That's today."

He stopped abruptly with his back turned to us; one hand on the doorknob, the other on his skateboard. "Y'know, bunny boy?" he replied casually, "I think I need to take care of some stuff. Find a place to hide my brother and such. And I totally forgot about all that until now." Smirking, the turned around to us. "Would it bother you to take care of him for another week or so?"

Baffled, I turned to Jack, who stared at his brother with unbelieving eyes. "Buddy," I whispered, "would you like t-"

"Of course!" Jack yelled out in joy, smiling at me.

"No problem Mike!" I answered with the widest smile I've had in months, "No problem at all!"

* * *

The MC cleared his throat as he produced a small note from his pocket and addressed the larger-than-usual audience. We stood behind him on the stage, blinking occasionally and involuntarily thanks to the show's programming. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, thank you for coming!" His voice was oddly emotional: nostalgic with a hint of joy. "It's 7 PM, and as you all know we're closing early today. It's a very special day for Freddy and his friends after all! They just had their last show, and now they're going to retire and live happily ever after. But I'm sure they'll miss you! Will you miss them?"

A small chorus of children's voices answered with a loud "Yeah!" A few kids were crying, but their parents didn't share their emotions; I'm sure most of them were happy with the shutdown.

Erik and Yin, the young woman who had repaired us, stared at the show from the corner next to the stage. It was hard to tell how the manager felt: frustration, sadness, nostalgia and happiness seemed to fuse in his eyes. Yin, however, admired us with a bittersweet smile. She'd been a semi-regular over the past five years, showing off how much this place meant for her.

Meanwhile, in the farthest corner of the dining area, a middle-aged woman and her little daughter were also fixed on the Fazbear gang's goodbye. Dave's widow wore a simple black blouse, glaring daggers at us whilst her daughter wiped away her snot and tears. Evie was perhaps our greatest fan. Now, after losing her dad, her fictional band of friends would be gone as well. I'm sure her mother was here only to make her daughter happy.

_I__'__m sorry._ I thought, _I took away your husband and your father, and you__'__ll never know the truth._

"Thank you for everything, Fazbear friends!" finished the MC, "And good night!"

A small round of applauses echoed through the room as we were forced to bow for the audience. I always hated the shows, but the idea of never seeing the innocent smiles of children suddenly made me wish for a bit more time. With mixed feelings, we waved at the costumers as they left one by one. A few kids waved back at us, as if saying goodbye to their dear friends, and for once I enjoyed the attention of our audience. The MC took the chance to leave the stage as the customers streamed out of the building. I turned my eyes and saw him go directly to his manager, when a sudden cry stole my attention.

"Evie!" The woman in black yelled at her daughter as she skipped and dodged her way to us between the costumers. "Evelyn Hobbs, come back here!"

With reddened eyes, the little girl stopped in front of the stage and looked up at us. "Hello Freddy. Hello Chica. Hello Bonnie." she squeaked through a stuffed nose, "I'm Evie, and I really like your shows. It sucks that you have to go. I'll miss you a lot." she sniffed and wiped her nose. "My mom is angry at you because she thinks you hurt my dad. I don't believe that's true, you wouldn't do that. You're kind and funny and love to sing! If any of you ever find him, could you please bring him back? That would be really cool."

Evie's mother was still busy navigating her way through the other clients, when her daughter leaned in close to us and whispered "I know you're not really real by the way. You're robots, but I still think you're cool. But my mom talks about you like you were really real! So, just play along, okay?"

"Evelyn, don't run away like that!" Her mother nagged as she came by her side, shooting quick glares at us and at Erik as she dragged her away, but the manager didn't seem to notice. "I told you they might be dangerous!"

"But they're my friends mommy!" rebutted the girl stubbornly, "And they wouldn't hurt me!"

The woman sighed. "How do you know that?"

"I just do!"

Mother and daughter kept arguing all the way to the door; they were the last clients to leave.

Accompanied by an attentive Yin, Erik and the MC exchanged a few hushed sentences before giving each other a firm handshake. The MC then walked to the main door, opened it, and almost crashed into a black figure riding on a skateboard.

"Who's that?" asked Yin curiously.

Erik sighed. "Our night guard."

The MC apologized to Mike hastily, who ignored him completely as he walked into the building. He tossed his skateboard on the floor, crossed his arms, and looked around the empty place with mild distaste. "I guess I missed the show." he sighed, exaggerating his disappointment.

"You did." was Erik's serious reply, "What are you doing here?"

Mike smirked. "Did you think I'd forget about my paycheck?"

The manager let out an exasperated sigh. "You'll get it by mail in a few days."

"How exactly, old man?" questioned Mike teasingly, "You don't know my name."

Yin raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Is that true, Erik?" she asked light-heartedly.

The manager grumbled a low "Be right back" as he walked speedily to the office.

"So…" Mike shuffled himself closer to the young woman. "Are you Erik's daughter or something like that?"

She scoffed. "Are you blind? We look nothing alike."

The man grinned cheekily. "My bad, of course you don't. You're way too cute to be that guy's daughter."

"Oh, shut up." Yin rolled her eyes and turned away with an unamused expression, but she couldn't keep herself from smiling just a bit.

I cringed inwardly, Sean let out a barely-audible groan next to me, and Sarah whispered "If I weren't dead already I would ask you two to kill my right now."

"Name's Michael Schmidt, but you can call me Mike." He approached the woman like a predator to his prey. "And you are?"

Yin smirked at him. "Out of your league."

"Damn." Sean half-whispered, half snickered, just low enough to not be heard. At the same time, Sarah was visibly struggling to hold down her laughs.

But Mike was undeterred. He chuckled at the joke, clearly trying to hide the severity of the blow. "Ahh… good one." He then turned his eyes to us, pretending to be enchanted. "Wonderful things, aren't they?"

She shrugged before putting her hands in her pockets. "You can thank me for that, although half the parents wouldn't agree with you. Some think the disappearances in this place are because of them, somehow." Yin shook her head. "Just stupid legends if you ask me."

"What do you mean with 'thank you for that'? Did you fix them after the old place closed down?" asked an impressed Mike.

Yin raised her shoulders once again. "Yup. It was an ordeal, especially with Bonnie, but it was worth it at the end."

"That's…amazing. That's genuinely amazing."

"Thanks." Once again, the woman's lips drew a small smile.

It was then that Erik finally barged out the west hallway, a checkbook swinging loosely in his hand. "Alright, let's get this over with." he grumbled, pointing threateningly at Mike with a Bic pen, "What's your damn name?"

The young man turned to him with a triumphant grin. "Mike Schmidt."

Erik raised an eyebrow at our friend. "Schmidt… sounds familiar."

For a moment, I thought Mike would take his chance to expose the manager for the death of his younger brother in front of Yin, to out his frustration with the Freddy's franchise to at least another soul. However, he merely shrugged and said "I don't know why, I've never been here before taking the job."

The older man then lowered his head indifferently before scribbling on the check. He then walked up to Mike, tore the small, light pink piece of paper from the book, and handed it to him. Clearly not thrilled with his pay, Mike took it and cramped it into his jean's pocket. The trio then exchanged awkward glances for a few seconds, not knowing how to proceed.

Finally, Erik cleared his throat. "The CEO is going to sell what he can, but with the building's reputation… it's gonna be tough. For now, everything is staying here as it is until we find a buyer."

"What about the animatronics?" asked Yin, a hint of worry in her eyes.

"There's just no use for them now. I know you like them, but they're not worth the trouble. They're simply going to stay here. If someone actually buys the building, we're scrapping them." The young woman answered with an understanding yet reluctant nod. Suddenly, the manager reached into his pants' pockets to pull out his silver zippo. He flipped up the cover, and a small orange flame danced before his tired eyes. Flipping it back down, he offered the lighter to Yin. "Please Davis, take it. You helped rebuild these things. We never would've opened if it weren't for you."

With an awkward smile, she replied "Thanks, but don't you need it more than me?"

The manager shook his head. "I'm quitting. Please, I just want to get rid of this thing."

Yin finally took the lighter from the manager's wrinkled hands. "I appreciate it." Her voice was of courtesy, not honesty. However, Erik seemed satisfied. He turned around and walked to the door, gesturing at the former employees to follow him.

Whilst Yin immediately began to walk to the door, Mike stayed by the stage and said loudly "I think I'm staying here a little bit more."

"I have to lock the place down." was Erik's serious reply.

"Don't worry old man, I have a key."

"What?!" The manager glared at him. "You made a copy of your workplace's key?! That's against our policy!"

Mike shrugged, before replying with a grin "But that's no longer your problem, is it? So you don't need to say anything."

Erik stopped and pondered this for a few seconds, whilst Yin neared the door. Eventually, he simply said "I'm locking this place down, and if you can't get out it's your own damn problem." The man then walked away from the building, leaving the female mechanic under the open doorframe.

"Michael Schmidt?" she called, gaining his attention immediately.

"What is it?"

"Yin Davis. 646-3878." And with that she shut the door, allowing the manager to lock it.

* * *

9 PM. The night was fresh, and a carefree atmosphere could be felt all around the building. Sean, Ferny, Sarah, Jack, Mike and me formed a circle on the elevated stage to tell stories and jokes, keeping our minds away from the dramatic moments that we'd been through and that were to happen again soon.

"Wait… wait… let me see if I got this right." Mike cleared his throat to kill away his laughter, but he was still grinning widely. "When Bunny Boy Brandon was four and still completely human he was scared of the puppet, right?"

"Yup." chirped Sarah.

"So, he's in the old version of this place, and he sees the puppet rise from his box."

"Correct." said Fer.

"So, he grabs his slice of pizza, throws it from _all _the way in the back above the heads of the costumers, and hits the damn thing in the face?!"

I shrugged and said proudly "Completely guilty."

A distant banging noise was heard from the back of the building. I turned my eyes momentarily to the dark hallways, but couldn't see anything. The rest of the group ignored it completely.

Clearly having a good time with the story, Jack repeated solemnly "He's completely guilty."

Mike shook his head. "No way, I'm not buying it."

"I swear it happened!" protested my brother energetically.

"Uh-uh. No way. A four year old doesn't have that strength and aim."

Sean was now covering his face in amusement and despair. "Michael, we got kicked out! You can ask anyone who was there that day. They'll say it was true all the time."

"He's right you know." A familiar, nonchalant voice stated from the back of the building; a voice that immediately made me feel a wave of revulsion.

Walther emerged from the dark west hallway with long, slow and confident steps. As always, his old purple uniform covered his slender frame proudly, and though a few grey hairs dotted his scalp here and there, he still beamed that unsettling sense of childishness. The red book rested under his armpit; his badge glinted in the lowlight.

Staring at the window, our killer smiled nostalgically. "Marionette told me so himself. Those were some good times, right? By the way, you'd think that someone would've fixed the air vents! You never know who might use them to crawl in here."

Mike stared at the newcomer with wide, startled eyes. "That's…"

"Yes." muttered Ferny with hate, "It's him."

"How was your last day on the stage, Fazbear gang?" asked Walther airily, "I'm sure you already miss your fans!"

"What do you want, murderer?!" demanded Sean as he stood up with clenched fists.

The man in purple shrugged. "Just saying hi to my dear friends."

"We're not your friends." I replied coldly, shoving myself closer to Jack.

The killer laid a hand on his chest theatrically. "That hurts, you know? After all I did to give you the gift of life…"

"Gift of life?!" interrupted Sarah in unusual rage, "_You killed us!__"_

Walther smirked, stood up and walked slowly to us. "You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs." He tilted his head at Mike. "And who are you?"

The young man stood up, blue eyes boiling with anger. "The brother of Jacob Schmidt, but I'm sure that a psycho like you doesn't remember the names of the ones he killed."

Our murderer, who was now right in front of the stage and of us, smiled sweetly at Mike. "Please, you offend me. Of course I remember your little brother. He was so small and defenseless, he barely moved or talked… I had a lot of fun killing him."

The next three seconds seemed to go by in slow motion. Mike threw himself at Walther before any of us could react, and both men rolled on the floor before crashing against a table. The red book now lay sprawled on the floor, a few feet behind both. Our furious friend put the dazed murdered under him, his face contorted with wrath and pain as he punched the older man in the face. Meanwhile, Ferny and Sean, closest to the edge of the stage, jumped off and rushed to the book as Mike screamed with anger. But his scream soon turned into a groan when Walther jabbed at his nose, giving himself the chance to kick a stunned Mike off him. Sarah and me were about to jump in, ready to help the former guard.

"_Stop now!__"_ Our murderer screamed and everyone froze in place. My brother had his arm outstretched towards the book with Ferny behind him, both only a few feet away from the thing. Mike lay on the floor, panting softly, unable to move just like the rest of us. Sarah, Jack and I sat on the stage, paralyzed.

Walther stood up, looked at the scene around him and shook his head. "You know, I'm getting _sick _of this!" he yelled as he walked towards the book. "I gave you so much time to accept who you are, to embrace this wonderful life, and you're still rejecting it!" Passing by Sean and Ferny's side, he bent down and picked up the book, before parading around the dining area. "I've been really generous for _all _these years, allowing you to feel the joy of a kill, making it impossible for anyone to catch you, and how do you pay me?!" He turned to us, fury etched all over his face. "With a punch to the face, or a rude reply, or by befriending your prey! Why can't you be like Marionette?! We could all be friends, have a good time, if you just let yourselves go!"

"Never." muttered Sean, "We won't…" His knees gave out and he fell flat on the floor, growling out in pain under the influence of the murderer's blood seal.

"You can go to hell." spat out Mike, "Killing defenseless kids. Why don't you mess with someone your own size?"

Smiling at him, Walther cooed sweetly "If you say so, it'll be my pleasure." Everyone's eyes widened in surprise when Mike suddenly bent over, gritting his teeth in unimaginable pain. "You should've stayed away, friend." The young man twisted in agony at our killer's feet. "Stings a bit, doesn't it?"

"Leave him." whimpered Jack by my side, "P-please, don't hurt him!"

Our murderer hummed thoughtfully for a second, before quipping "Bucky, I'm not _hurting _him. I'm just giving him lots and lots of pain!"

I pushed against the invisible restraints with all I had as the figure in purple loomed over Mike, but it was useless. Jack only stared in disbelief at his aching brother and at the amused killer. "Why do long faces?" mocked the maniac, "It's not like I'm killing him or anything."

Jack's crying turned into a low, ragged whisper: "Leave… him… now."

Walther smirked at him arrogantly. "Or what? What will y-" His words choked in his mouth and he stumbled backwards, eyes wide open in fear and pain as he clutched at his chest. "Don't…" he croaked, bending over. "_Don__'__t!__"_ His face twisted in agony. "DON'T! STOP IT NOW!" Jack's eyes were shining brightly with anger. Finally, Walther wailed out "I'm begging you, please stop!"

And he did.

Both Walther and Jack panted with exhaustion after my friend stopped erasing him. We still couldn't move as our killer backed away, and mumbled out of breath "Don't say that I didn't give you a chance to change." He then rushed back to the hallway he came from. After a minute or two we heard distant bangs as he escaped from the building through the vents. Finally, we could move.

"I… I couldn't." Jack stammered at the verge of tears. Mike stood up slowly and walked to his brother. "When he b-begged… I just couldn't do it." He lowered his head, shoulders trembling slightly as he cried softly. "What's wrong with me? Mikey, he was g-giving you so much pain. A-and it could've been over, but I let him go."

Mike came by his brother and laid a hand on his shoulder as he whispered gently "It's fine. There's nothing wrong with you, little brother, you just have a kind heart. We'll keep looking for a way."

Jack only smiled feebly at his brother.

A minute or two of silence passed by; we were still stunned by what had happened. Finally, Sarah said cautiously "So, now what?"

"Well, we could talk about what just happened." proposed my brother.

"Or we could do something more pleasant." countered Ferny.

"I agree." said Mike. "So, I brought a little radio to the office the other day. We can still listen to some shows, if you want."

We exchanged glanced for just a moment. Soon, it became clear that we all wanted the same: have fun whilst we could.


	46. Friends till the end

**A/N: **Welcome back guys, hope you've had a nice few weeks. As always, thanks a lot for your reviews and support, especially now that we're nearing the end of tape 3, and the end of this story. Hard to believe, isn't it?

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Lots of emotions were had, specially regarding a certain special character. Remember: your honest opinions are highly appreciated. And as always, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 46: Friends till the end**

It's amazing how time flies by when you're having fun.

We spent the week after closing doing nothing else than playing games, reading books, listening to music, and being generally useless, lazy and happy. It was the closest thing to a vacation that I could think of. I made sure to spend a lot of time with Jack, competing against him in puzzle making just to be beaten every time, listening to the small radio that Mike gave us, and if he felt up to it, we did something with the rest of my friends.

Mike came to visit us faithfully every single afternoon, but always left before midnight for obvious reasons. Luckily for us, there was no chance to be taken over without anyone to kill, so we had the late night and early morning all to ourselves. Although we did our best to enjoy this short window of peace, deep down we knew this was the calm before the storm. And on the last night that I'd spend with Jack, Ferny came up with an interesting idea for a game, so we could all play together one last time.

* * *

I stood motionless in the backroom. There was a soft whir as the camera in the corner turned to inspect me, its little LED glowing bright red in the darkness. This meant that Jack and his brother were watching me from the office, like they had done constantly since the late afternoon.

_Mike didn__'__t forget that I was always the most aggressive_. I thought, _I__'__m sure he__'__s about to check on Ferny any moment now._

The tiny red light disappeared and I took the chance to move swiftly out of the room. But a familiar whirring made me stop in my tracks as soon as I had stepped into the dining area. Slightly annoyed, I turned my head to see another camera aimed right at me, its LED turned on.

"Common Mike!" I screamed at the hallway in mock frustration, "You do know I'm not actually trying to kill you, right?!"

A serious of muffled laughs came from the office's hallways as an answer. "I'm not taking any chances, bunny boy!" was his teasing reply. "You know I don't play nice!"

"True." I mumbled under my breath. Staying completely still, I saw my brother and Sarah creeping their way through the darkened west hallway. It was then that the camera on me turned off, and assuming that Mike and Jack were following their usual circuit, the lens would soon be on my teammates. Sean turned to me for a moment, giving me a confident wink, before ducking into the kitchen with Sarah.

"Fer?" I whispered.

The curtains of Pirate Cove parted open ever so slightly, revealing a glowing yellow eye. "Yeah?"

"I'm going for it."

"Common, I've been stuck here the whole night!" he hissed lowly, "I just managed to get two runs to the office, and Jack closed the door on me both times!"

"Sorry!" I teased, trying my best to silence my footsteps as I entered the east hallway. It was then that a loud metallic clatter, the telltale noise of pots and pans clashing and falling, rang through the building.

"I don't even need the camera Sarah!" mocked Mike from the office, "And don't tell me you're in there with Sean!"

"Hehe, o-of course not!" was her shameful reply. I could almost hear my brother groan in frustration. Taking my chance, I walked slowly through the darkness, making sure to stay at the brim of a flickering lightbulb in front of me. Just when I thought I could make a run for it, the hallway´s camera turned to me. I saw the light from the office die out as Jack closed the door, accompanied by its familiar hydraulic _woosh_.

"Good job little brother!" beamed Mike proudly, his voice once again muffled by the door's thick steel, "We don't want Brandon to come in here and stuff me in a suit."

Slightly disappointed but filled with determination, I made my way to the end of the hallway at snail's pace. "Why?" I heard Jack say worriedly as I passed the office, "I thought this was only a g-game. I thought they wouldn't hurt us!"

"It was a joke." replied Mike gently, "Everything is okay little brother. I didn't mean what I said."

"Oh. Right."

I was now in the corner of the east hallway, my back flat against the wall. Slowly, cautiously, I raised my eyes to the dead camera. _Any moment now. He can__'__t keep the door down forever._

Not one minute later, I heard the door on the opposite side of the office come down triumphantly. "Oops, too bad!" Mike sneered, "Better luck next time Yogi Bear."

I put myself in a blind spot in front of my door with two long steps, realizing that Mike would probably check on me with the camera on the hallway's corner. As if to confirm my suspicions, the little device whirred to life before scanning the corner for something that wasn't there anymore. I had to bite down to stop a bubbling, nervous chuckle.

_Don__'__t check the lights__…__ Don__'__t check the lights__…_

I barely managed to hear Mike say "Can't see him." when the door rose up in front of me. Grinning like a madman, I rushed blindly into the tiny room, completely oblivious of the tall golden figure standing in my way.

I could feel the surprise coming out of Jack's eyes, but couldn't stop my heavy body. We shared the exact same thought right before the crash:

_This is going to hurt._

It did hurt.

Every gear and part of my body shook with the impact. I bounced backwards and flailed my arms uselessly to somehow stay on two feet. The ceiling passed before me right as I fell on my back, before crashing against the tiles with a powerful dry _bang_. Splayed down like a ragdoll, I stared up at the office's lightbulb through hazy eyes.

"Are you guys okay?" asked a worried Mike.

My answer was a low, aching groan. I rubbed my lower back as I sat up slowly, head still spinning as I croaked out "I think I broke a servo somewhere. Are you alright buddy?"

No answer. I immediately shook off all my pain to check on Jack, who was strewn down on his back like me.

"Jacob, are you okay?" demanded Mike anxiously.

After a second or two, a quiet giggle left Jack's mouth. This then turned into a hearty chuckle that grew into an all-out fit of laughs. Mike and I exchanged surprised glances as Jack held unto his belly, almost doubling over from his laughter. He gradually calmed down as he sat up and looked at both of us.

"Hehe… Oww… heh." Still laughing softly, Jack rubbed the back of his head. "That was fun."

Mike raised his shoulders, mumbling a surprised and airy "If you say so." He was about to walk to Jack, when the younger brother shook his head.

"It's okay Mikey" he said casually, groaning in slight discomfort as he stood up on his own. Still sitting on the floor, I was surprised to see him walk towards me. I couldn't help but smile as he stretched his hand, beckoning me to take it with his gaze.

"What's wrong?" asked Jack, waiting for me to grab his hand.

I sighed and looked up at him. "On our first night, I helped you get on your feet. On our last night, you're helping me get on my feet. And I think that's amazing."

He turned his head shyly, but was unable to hide the spark of joy that beamed from his eyes. "Thank y-you."

I grabbed his hand and pulled myself on my feet with his help. "No, thank you."

A bang from the right side of the office stole our attention. The three of us turned around almost simultaneously to see Sarah knocking on the Plexiglas window, Sean and Ferny right beside her. "What happened?" she asked, worried. "We heard a loud noise."

Mike opened the door. "It's okay. Nobody's hurt except bunny boy's pride." The young man turned his mocking blue eyes to me, and I couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly as I scratched to back of my head.

The jovial atmosphere began to fade away when we realized that our time was up. After a few seconds, my brother simply asked "So, Don wins this one?"

Mike shrugged. "I guess."

Sean looked at me. "Nice one private." he said, trying to lift the mood.

"Thanks." was my dry answer.

Eventually, Mike had to say what no one wanted to hear. "It's 11 PM. So, I guess it's time to…"

"No." interrupted Jack somewhat rudely. Surprised, I saw how he began to tug at my arm in an almost anxious way. "Common, l-let's play again."

A knot grew in my throat as I saw him pull harder at my arm, but I couldn't budge. "Buddy, we don't have any time left." I whispered as gently as I could.

"Yes we do!" was his angry reply. This wasn't like him. "I d-don't have to go now, I can go later! Let's play again."

"Stop it little brother." said Mike firmly, "We had to leave an hour ago."

"No! No! No!" Jack was pulling at my arm with all his strength. "We're p-playing again! I can leave later!" His words fused with his growing whimpers. "I don't have to leave! I don't…"

He stopped when I grabbed his hand that was tugging at my arm, and lowered his head slowly, trying to silence his crying. "Jack, this was never supposed to happen." I said in the most leveled voice I could muster, "You were never meant to go inside that room with us. What happened to you is my fault."

"N-no it isn't…" he whimpered.

"You were meant to go back home with your brother that same night, and live the long and happy life that you deserve. That's what should've happened, but it never did. I took that away from you, and now I'm just trying to give some of that back. You can finally go home with Mike, eight years too late. But you've grown, you've learned, and you've become… you've become a very big part of me." I took a deep breath. He shook his head slowly. "I'm so lucky to have met you, and you're so unlucky to have met me. But you don't need me anymore."

"Yes I d-do!" he wailed and stuttered violently, "You and Mikey are the only p-people in the world that can understand me. No one else c-can, and I can't understand anyone. I t-tried. I tried so much. But I can't. And everyone I ever tried to t-talk with hated me after that. B-because I can't talk good, or I always want to be alone, or I'm weird or s-stupid or…"

"You're not any of those things." I interrupted, "You're my friend."

"You have other friends! Mikey is my brother, but you're my only f-friend." Jack's shoulders shook as he cried softly. "You're my only f-friend." His voice became a quiet whimper. "You're my only friend." I took his limp hand in mine and guided him out of the room gently. "You're my only friend." He followed me mechanically, uttering the same words as we headed to the door followed by all my friends. Words that grew softer each time. "You're my only friend."

He was silent by the time we reached the door. Through the window, we saw the cold November mist glow like silver under the moonlight. The night was unusually quiet; not a single car had driven by in the last hour. I was thankful for the silence. It was just like that first night with Jack, so long ago.

Mike cleared his throat, and said quietly "A friend of mine owed me a favor, so I borrowed his moving truck for Jack. There's a tiny shed in the woods behind our house where no one goes. I think it's a good hiding place for now. No one needs to know about any of this."

"I agree." said my brother firmly. "Thank you, Mike."

The young man shook his head. "No, thank you_. _Thank you all."

Jack's hold on my hand tightened and he let out a tiny sob. "It's okay." I whispered, resting my hand on his shoulder cautiously. "It's okay."

"I think it's better if we leave now." continued Mike, looking at me with regretful eyes. But we knew this was for the best.

Ferny walked up to us, and said gently "Jack, please take care of yourself." But Jack didn't bother to raise his head and see him in the eyes. Understanding the cue, my red friend walked away from us.

"It was great meeting you." whispered Sarah, taking Ferny's place in front of us. "Listen to your big brother, alright?" Once again, Jack remained completely stoic, as if she wasn't even there. However, he winced away slightly when Sarah tried to take his other hand. She then walked away silently.

Now, it was Sean who came in front of Jack. "I know how you feel about Don, but I don't know how you feel about the rest of us." he said in between hard honesty and friendly subtleness, "Just know that you've always been a friend for all of us, and that's never going to change."

He then turned around and began to walk away, when Jack uttered a low "Thank you." He didn't look up at Sean and his voice was barely audible, but it was still enough to make my brother and me smile.

Crossing his arms and sighing deeply, Mike looked at me once more. He didn't want to say it, but they had to leave as soon as possible. Still refusing to let go of my hand, Jack came in front of me to say goodbye.

I didn't know what to say. A million possible words and phrases rushed through my hazy mind, but I still came out empty handed. There's no easy way to bid farewell to a friend. No. To family. There comes a point when blood becomes irrelevant to the bond you form with the ones you love and the ones you lose.

"We are a family." I said, barely keeping myself together. "And a real family lasts forever. We'll see each other again, I know."

Jack nodded slightly, then raised his eyes to look into my own. Their tiny specs of white light twinkled and shone like miniature stars. "I'll m-miss you." he whimpered.

"I'll miss you more."

I let go of his hand, ready to walk away, when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me. Burying his face into my shoulder, he let out a series of tiny wails and moans. "It's okay." I said calmly, returning the embrace and stroking his back gently. "It's okay." I stifled down a sob that threatened to leave my throat. "It's… It's…"

My tough masquerade shattered under the last hug I'd ever receive from Jack, and I held unto him like a castaway to a lifesaver. "It's n-not okay." I cried lowly, "I'm not okay. Jack, I'm scared of myself. I don't want t-to hurt people anymore. I d-don't want to hurt my friends!"

"You won't." he replied quietly, "You're a good person. I'll help you, I p-promise."

"O-okay." Taking deep, shaky breaths to calm myself down, I let go of him. "Okay. Thank you."

Still sobbing quietly, he released his embrace and looked me in the eyes one last time. "You're welcome… B-Brandon."

He had never said my name, or anyone's name, besides Mike's. Sadness, nostalgia, pride, joy, and a million other emotions coursed through me as he turned around and took his brother's hand, who rubbed his eyes discretely. Clearing his throat, Mike then told us "We need to leave now. I'll see you guys in a week or so, I promise. Then we'll make an end to this."

With a decided and friendly grin, the young man waved at us and led his brother by the hand to the front door. Just before stepping outside for the first time in eight years, Jack turned to me one last time, and smiled.

* * *

My dirty finger brushed the edge of the plastic rose once more. Staring at its crumbled petals, I remembered the one it belonged to and everyone else we had lost in one way or another.

Dad. Mom. TB. Junior. Mini. Mangle. Balloons. Jeremy.

And now, Jack.

I was sitting on the floor of the west hallway, right next to the office. My friends were lying on the floor a few feet ahead of me, staring up at the damp ceiling. One would think we were all sleeping, but that was no longer possible for us. However, we were dreaming. Dreaming about a normal life, or how we could end this, or unexplainable things that only make sense inside someone's head. We were dreamers stuck in a nightmare.

A lighting's flash lit up the dark building for an instant, soon followed by the low rumbling of a distant thunder. Not one minute later, the skies opened up, and a flood of rain fell down on the building. _It__'__s raining again_. I thought, _When will this stop? _

Over the past week after Jack's departure, a heavy storm had settled over town. There was barely any difference between day and night now, thanks to the thick dark clouds that never seemed to go away. The cheap ceiling had begun to leak constantly after a few days of rain. Besides, a large family of rats now scurried around the building, surely lured by the relative warmth of it.

We used to be happy when the pizzerias were closed, knowing that we wouldn't be a danger to anyone. However, without Jack the place felt dead. A vital part of it was missing, as important as its doors or windows or wet ceiling, and that emptiness made the place uninhabitable. Sighing, I put the flower back in my chest and listened to the never-ending rain and the occasional squealing and chirping of rats.

'Aww… is poor Brandon feeling blue tonight?' Bonnie taunted, as if he was talking to a baby, 'Does he miss his little friend?'

'Yes. But you won't hurt anyone else.' I replied mentally.

Then, I heard a low, sinister laugh in my head. 'Are you sure about that? What do you say if we teach your brother a lesson for all those years he ignored you?'

"No." I hissed in a low voice, "We are over that."

'Are you sure?' he asked with poisonous sweetness, 'Aren't you a still just a little bit mad?'

_Maybe a little_. I thought fleetingly before I could stop myself. But it was too late; I had opened the doors for him.

'Only a little?' he questioned, 'I'd be pretty mad.' My fingers twitched as his hate flowed through me like fire. 'It's alright to be mad sometimes…'

"Stop." I muttered lowly, "Shut up. I… I don't want to… hurt my brother…" But it was getting harder to think straight and hold him back.

'Let me out, Brandon.' he ordered harshly, 'And everything will feel better.'

Groaning in a low voice, I held unto my burning chest and shook my head, knowing deep down I was fighting a losing battle. I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate.

"Private?" I heard Sean say. There was a low hydraulic whir as he stood up and walked to me. "Are you okay?"

I finally opened my eyes, just to see him standing in front of me. "Don't talk to me." I growled.

Confused, he looked down at me. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on, _brother._" I stood up to him with clenched fists. "I'm just angry, you know? Angry because I lost Jack, angry because of everything that happened, and angry because you never came to help me when I needed you."

When he took a step back I felt an odd satisfaction deep inside me. Grinning at the sight of his wary eyes, I closed the distance between him and me even more.

"That's right." I continued, "Did you think I forgot?" I barely noticed Sarah and Ferny looking at me with apprehension. "That I would just forgive you?!"

"This isn't you, Don." he said slowly, "_He__'__s _making you say these things. You're not thinking clearly."

"Oh, but I feel fine! I feel like I can actually think clearly for the first time!"

Sean shook his head. "I know it's hard, but you have to fight it."

"Maybe I don't want to fight it." I said casually, "Maybe Bonnie has been right all along. Maybe we should… let ourselves go."

As soon as I said these words his massive hands grabbed my shoulders, pinning me against the nearest wall. "Don't even think about it." Sean whispered in my face with surprising gentleness.

"_Let me go!__"_ I screamed, twisting and squirming under his grasp. "You're not my boss! You can't tell me what to do, you scumbag!"

"Don, look me in the eyes." Growling like an animal, gritting my teeth in pure, irrational hate I glared at his round face. "Just… look me in the eyes."

Even in that state, something in his voice made me obey him. I stared at his glowing eyes for long seconds, recognizing the person trapped behind them. Slowly, very slowly, I felt that blinding hate flow out of me. My fists unclenched slowly, and my ragged breathing quieted down. A deep tiredness came over me as I realized what I had said. Covering my face in shame, I let myself slide down against the wall and muttered a low "I'm sorry."

My brother's hard grab on my shoulders turned into gentle pats. "Don't worry private. I know you didn't want to do that."

Silence reigned over us for a few seconds, until a worried Sarah asked "Do you feel better now, Brandon?"

Shrugging, I turned to look at her and Ferny. "More or less. But I know that I won't last much longer, not without someone that can hold back what's inside me. And Jack was the only one that could."

"We'll find a way." Ferny said with a small, comforting smile. "We're friends till the end, after all."

I nodded back at him. "Friends till the end."

"Friends till the end." repeated Sean solemnly.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "You doofuses want me to say it, don't you? Alright…" She let out an exaggerated sigh, before mumbling "Friends till the end. There. Happy now?"

"Very much!" was Ferny's teasing reply. Sarah only looked back at him with a warm smile.

For a minute or two no one said anything. We just stayed together in the dark hallway, enjoying each other's company. Somehow, we all knew that it would end soon in one way or another. And so, we savored these few seconds of bonding silence.

But this dreaded ending arrived sooner than expected.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Ferny suddenly, looking at the end of the hallway nervously, ears swiveled up in alert.

"Hear what, professor?" replied Sarah.

Fer looked back to us. "I heard a metallic bang, I'm sure of it."

"Maybe it was just a rat in an air vent?" I said.

He shook his head. "It was _much _bigger than that."

Not ten seconds later, a loud crashing noise echoed through the building.

"He's here." whispered my brother, just as we heard another powerful crash. We stared at each other for a few moments, reluctant to leave the hallway, but knowing that we had to see what was going on. Sean took the first step and we gingerly followed him through the dark, narrow corridor.

A third crash, stronger that the previous, stopped us in our tracks. The piercing noise was accompanied by something being torn apart. We stayed at the corner of the hallway to the dining area, refusing to come out, when we heard another crash and rip. Two rats dashed next to me, surely trying to flee from whatever our murderer was doing.

The seconds ticked by slowly as we waited for another sound besides the rain and thunder, but everything remained unsettlingly silent. We stepped into the dining area slowly, not knowing what to expect. It didn't take long, however, to see the massive tear running down the paper-thin drywall close to the entrance, just a little bit too small for any of us to fit through.

We went to the wall as quickly was we could, amazed by the size of the hole and even more by what was behind it. Curious as cats, we stuck our heads together to inspect the tear. The thin plaster was covering a large room, and with the moonlight and our glowing eyes, we could barely see the screens of three arcade cabinets. The sight suddenly brought a flood of dark, bloody memories.

"This is the private party room where we were murdered." I whispered in awe, remembering our first night in this refurbished place.

The sound of slow claps behind me sent a chill down my back. Slowly, I turned around to see Walther standing in the middle of the dining area. "Very good Bonnie!" he cheered proudly, "I'm glad you remember that room." I was so transfixed by his mere presence, that I barely noticed the fire ax in his right hand and the red book in his left.

"Why are you here?" asked Sarah dryly, "There's nothing more to take from us."

The killer beamed a wide smile at her. "You're wrong, sweetheart. You're so very wrong. You see, I just don't want to wait anymore." He laid the book on the table and began to walk towards us. "I see that you still refuse to be good friends, enjoy the life I gave you and play your game." The man shrugged casually. "I'm very disappointed in you, but life carries on. For me, at least." He chuckled at his own joke, and I felt my body itch with anger. "I warned you from the very first day: if you don't play along, then it's game over."

"Killing people is not a game!" shouted Ferny, standing beside Sarah protectively.

"Very well." said the murderer coldly, raising his ax at us. "I'm afraid our friendship is over." A lighting flashed in the distance, illuminating his bloodshot eyes and wet hair. "If you don't want this life, then you won't have _any _life."


	47. Nightmare

**A/N: **Hey guys, welcome back. Thanks for being here once again, especially now that we're about to finish tape 3. I promise you, its ending will not be what you expect!

However, while I tried to fit everything into a single chapter, I realized it would be ridiculously long and it probably wouldn't have to best quality. I wanted to finish the tape in this update, but it simply wasn't possible. So, here's a _slightly _shorter chap than the latest ones. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it, although its kind of hard to do so considering what's about to happen...

In any case, don't forget that your honest opinions and reviews are extremely helpful and a great support. And of course, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 47: Nightmare**

Another thunder roared violently as a white flash filled the building. It was as if a giant camera wanted to capture the dreadful events of the night.

"It didn't have to be this way, you know?" said our killer regretfully, swinging the axe back and forth. "We could've been such good friends, but you chose the hard way."

"Why did you tear open that room?" demanded Ferny.

Walther shrugged and smiled at him. "As you may know by now, every single building ever owned by the franchise has had a secret room covered by a dry wall, where the company hides its… juicy stuff. And now that the place is officially broke and Dave is dead, our old manager Erik has nothing left to lose if he handles all that evidence against me to the cops. So, I'm here to kill two birds with one shot."

"And I guess we are the first bird." added Sean coldly, blue eyes locked on the man.

The murderer smirked. "That's right Freddy, but look at the bright side! I could just erase you if I wanted, but since I'm a good guy I'm simply going to break you apart." He must have seen our hateful glares, because he immediately added with irritation "Spoiled brats. At least you'll live on as Shadows."

"Dark ghosts that can't even remember who they used to be." I rebutted. "Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome Bonnie. Now, I think I'm going to start with…" He raised his finger and pointed at each one of us. "Eeny meeny miny moe…" The finger stopped on me for just one instant. "Catch a tiger by its toe…"

Sarah glared at the man emotionlessly after being selected. "I'm sorry sweetheart." he sneered sarcastically, tightening his grip on the axe. "It's not your day."

"I'm not your sweetheart." was her cold answer, before a little smirk appeared on her face. "I don't think anyone would want to be your sweetheart. I mean, have you seen yourself in a mirror lately?"

The man's amused expression disappeared into a hateful scowl, and he began to march towards her, axe in hand.

"Don't even think about it." Ferny bared his teeth at the man, and with one long step, stood in front of Sarah. "We're tired of you!" he bellowed, raising his hook. "All the people you've killed, all the people _we _killed because of you, and you still want more?!"

"What are you doing, doofus?" whispered a worried Sarah.

Surprised, our murdered stopped in his tracks. "What a gentleman! Standing up for his damsel in distress and his friends."

"Fer, let's think for a moment." said my brother slowly, trying to mask his anxiousness. "You're the smart guy here, you know what's going to happen. You know you can't hurt him."

"I know." was our friend's calm answer.

"Ferny, please think about yourself." I begged, "I'm sure we can beat him if we work together."

"Brandon, you know as well as me that this is the end." He turned to me, yellow eyes beaming with sadness, but also something more: fierce loyalty. "And we're friends till the end. Sarah, you've been amazing to me. Same goes to you, Sean. Thank you for everything."

"Professor, wait!" Sarah cried out to our friend, but it was too late: he was already charging at the man, his slender and powerful legs ready to launch his body and strike down the killer.

Showing off a confident smirk, Walther shrugged casually. "Okay then. You can go first."

And Ferny's body froze and crashed on the floor, skidding to a halt in front of the killer who immediately raised his axe high in the air. "You stupid fox!" The murderer cackled as the weapon tore into our friend's back. "You're just delaying the inevitable!" Ferny screamed in pain as another hard hit fell on his head, splitting open the metal shell like and egg. "Your friends can't do anything to save you…" The man kicked a groaning Ferny on his back, who stared up at him with fierce eyes. Walther was right; our bodies were once again frozen in place. "And now they'll be nothing left of who you used to be!"

The next strike fell on Ferny's torn chest. His body jolted up from the shock, as if he had been electrocuted, and his glowing eyes faded in and out haphazardly like a broken lightbulb. Sarah screamed at my side while my brother tried hopelessly to free his frozen body.

I felt sick as a familiar sense of hopelessness came over me. Eight years ago, Sean covered my eyes as this man ripped open Ferny's body with a butcher knife. And now history was repeating itself, but no one could shield me from the horror.

My friend's hand twitched meekly on the floor, his eyes barely glowing, when another blow severed his back in two. He let out a guttural groan of pure agony; the sound of a dying animal.

It was then that something inside me snapped. My life-long friend being murdered twice in the same place by the same man was the drop that spilled the glass. I didn't care anymore about anything. I just wanted to see this man dead.

"Can you hear me?" I whispered.

'I'm always listening.' replied Bonnie immediately, before laughing in delight. 'Wow! Your friend's taking a beating!'

"I'm done."

'What do you mean by that?' he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Do you want to kill again, yes or no?" I demanded.

'I always want to kill.'

"Then kill this man!" I ordered, "If it's true that anger can make me stronger, then do it! Give me something, anything, just let me kill this man to save my friends!"

"Brandon…" Sarah turned to me with a pained expression. "What are you doing?"

"He took _everything_ I had!_"_ I screamed, "I have nothing left and no one else beside them! I won't let him take them as well!"

"Private, why are you talking to him?" asked Sean anxiously.

'Why would I kill the man that brought me to existence in the first place?" was Bonnie's indifferent answer.

"Because I know you don't care who you kill, as long as you kill."

'True, but that's not enough.'

"If he destroys my body what will become of you?" I asked in half-mockery, "If you don't help me tonight we're both done for."

The voice in my head stayed silent for a few seconds, before saying flatly 'We have a deal.'

A familiar surge of boiling anger immediately washed over me like liquid fire, but I didn't feel the need to fight it. I was in control this time. It was as if a heavy weight was lifted off me when I started to take slow, determined steps to the killer; steps that grew quicker and longer each time. My fists were tightened to the point of pain. My teeth grinded against each other. There were no more restrictions or walls for the wrath that I had contained for so long.

Walther raised his axe one more time, ready to destroy what was left of Ferny, when he turned around hastily to see me march towards him. His expression of shock turned into a grimace of pain when my fist connected with his chest and sent him rolling and sliding on the wet tiles, his axe coming to a halt right beside him.

"Fer, get up!" I ordered urgently, "He's down. This is our chance."

There was no answer.

I turned to the twisted heap of metal and wires that housed my friend's soul. Half of his face was gone, his jaw was barely hanging from his mouth, and his back bent sharply in an unnatural angle. And there, fading out slowly like a starved flame in his torn chest, was his broken blood seal. When I looked back at his eyes there was no light or emotion coming from them. I only saw two colored spheres of plastic, as lifeless as the eyes of a doll.

He was gone.

Sean and Sarah took their chance to move and rushed by my side, but no one said anything. We simply stared down at the body in mournful silence for a few seconds, feeling as if time was crawling by in painful slowness. My grief only grew when I stole a glance at Sarah and saw her heartbroken eyes; it almost seemed like they were brimming with tears. Then, suddenly, they were taken over by a fury I had never seen before. She turned quickly to the man, who was still recovering from my hit. Grabbing his axe, he had begun to stand up on weak legs.

"How could you." she hissed lowly in pure hate, before giving out a broken wail: "_How could you?!__"_ Her loud, laborious steps blended with the torrential rain, bringing the storm inside the building. Astonished, I stayed back and watched her grab Walther by his collar. "_How could you do this to him_?_!_" She threw the axe-wielding man against the wall separating the twin corridors, but that clearly wasn't enough. Groaning in pain and anger, Walther leaned on his weapon as he stood up, whilst Sarah marched at him with the single-mindedness and power of a freight train.

She raised her trembling fist high in the air, ready to let it fall on the man like a hammer, but her body suddenly froze in place as soon as Walther was standing upright. They were face to face now, her eyes still beamed desperation and anger and her fist still quivered with hate as the man glared back at her. "Why... are you … making this… _so difficult?!_" he hissed through clenched teeth before swinging the axe wildly at her neck. A rain of sparks and metal fragments filled the air as Sarah's head twisted to a side, connected to her torso only by a few scraps of her endoskeleton. Sean ran to her first, followed shortly by me, and we saw her fall on her back in slow motion. Wincing slightly, she stared up at the crazed man who now held the axe right above her chest. "Goodbye, sweetheart." he cooed.

When Sean was right in front of the pair he suddenly found himself stuck in place. Growling in desperation and anger he could only see how the axe's head ripped open Sarah's chest. Our friend cried in pain as a short series of violent spams wrecked her body. She closed her eyes and twisted her broken head in agony for a few moments. Then, she went completely limp.

At the same time I felt my body becoming heavier and heavier. I was now struggling to lay one foot in front of the other, whilst the killer turned to a paralyzed Sean. "You can't..." he panted, grinning in bloodlust before screaming triumphantly: _"_You can't save them! Not the first time, and not this time!"

"Don't touch my brother, you bastard!" I roared in fury and helplessness, "Touch him and I'll kill you!"

"Get away from here Don!" ordered Sean hastily, barely managing to turn his eyes at me. "Just get away from here!"

Walther turned to me with a confident smirk as he pulled back the axe. "You can try, Bonnie! You can try _all _you want!" The weapon's head connected with Sean's left shoulder joint, producing a piercing metallic snap as it shattered the unsheltered connection. I watched in horror how my brother's left arm fell to the floor, who let out a raspy and pain-filled growl as he toppled to the right, dragged down by the weight of his other arm.

I felt my body burn as sadness and shock were consumed by anger. The invisible chains on me didn't get any lighter, but I somehow managed to drag them along as I arduously moved towards the grinning murderer, my downed brother and an unmoving Sarah. Still as a statue, Walther simply stood in place and tightened his grip on the axe's handle. "Come close, little bunny." he teased, swinging the weapon back and forth as a crazed glint took hold of his eyes. "It's rabbit season."

I summoned all my strength to dash at the man, but it felt like moving through quicksand. Panting, growling and wheezing, I dragged myself through the humid air and pulled back my hand despite the massive resistance. I tightened my fist and tried to ignore how every single movement was accompanied by burning pain. However, Walther was free to move as quickly as he could. In the time I needed to take a single step he had raised the axe as high as he could, and leaning his whole weight on the swing, brought it down on my face.

My eyes barely had time to follow the weapon's movement before the cold, sharp steel buried itself into my left eye socket. I didn't feel any pain yet: just the crunching pressure of my faux eyeball shattering and the tearing of metal as I was pushed back by the force of the impact. Falling backwards, the world became a blur of greys and black; I could barely see the walls and dinner tables flashing next to me before finally crashing against the floor.

My vision slowly refocused enough to see that I was lying next to Sarah, whose broken head had lolled towards me. Her eyes were slowly fading out like the last embers of a candle, and yet, they beamed that same sense of defiance. "Hey doofus." she croaked out.

"Hey." I replied in a broken whisper.

"Your face's… p-pretty messed up." She forced out a painful snicker. "It's a nice improvement."

I couldn't help but smile slightly. "Yours too."

Her dying purple orbs reflected just a tiny bit of joy as she smiled one last time. "Good one, bozo. Good one…" And the last sliver of light faded away from her eyes.

"Sarah, are you there?" groaned Sean by my other side, "S-Sarah? Sarah?!" A cruel strike against his shoulder turned his desperate pleas into a pained roar.

"She's with your other friend now." Walther replied with arrogance, ripping the axe from his body. My lonely eye followed him as he came back towards me. When I tried to pull myself up, my left temple received a strike from the weapon's blunt side that flared up the pain in my empty eye socket. Barely conscious, I saw how my killer gently rested the axe's head on top of my chest, as if preparing for a golf swing.

"Don't do this to him." pleaded Sean beside me, "Please, _please _don't do this to him." I tried to force out some words of comfort that only came out as incoherent moans of pain. Tied down to the floor, unable to move, I followed the axe's gentle rise. The weapon was now at its highest point, forming a straight line with the killer's body.

"And you had so much potential." he lamented, right before bringing down the axe. Four things happened in the following split second. Sean crawled to me rapidly, I closed my only eye, I felt a mild pressure over my torso and I heard a shattering metallic break.

Surprised by the absence of pain, I gingerly opened my eyes to see my brother's faintly glowing blue orbs right in front of me. It took me a moment to realize that he was on top of my body. Every single sound in the air, every raindrop hitting the roof or thunder roaring or gear turning, were silenced when Sean rolled off me with the axe buried in the side of his chest.

"Brother?" I rasped out.

His eyes began to flicker. "Yes, private?" he whispered weakly.

A knot welled up in my throat. "I'm sorry. For everything."

He stretched his remaining arm to me meekly. "I'm sorry too."

I slowly stretched my hand to him and brushed his fingertips with my own. "You need to stop taking hits for me."

Smiling, he whispered "Maybe I don't mind." He closed his eyes as the life disappeared from them. "Hey, Don…"

I waited in silence for a few seconds for him to finish. "Yes, brother?"

There was nothing but silence.

"Brother?!" Crying, I grabbed his hand and shook it anxiously. "Common Sean! Don't go!" I slowed down when I realized I would get no answer. "Please… p-please… don't go…" But there was nothing I could do.

Our murderer ripped the axe from my brother's body mercilessly. "How emotional." he mocked, swinging it over his shoulders. "I think I'm going to cry." He kicked Sean's lifeless hand away from mine, before once again standing over me menacingly. A demented snicker left his throat as he readied his weapon. "Don't worry, Bonnie." he whispered in poisonous sweetness, "Your suffering is almost over."

My mind raced to the point that everything seemed to slow down. The ticking of raindrops wasn't constant anymore, but happened every few seconds. My killer was still lifting the weapon to bring it down with all his strength, and that bloodlust in his eyes never waned away for one moment.

'What the hell are you doing?!' Bonnie snarled at me, 'Useless piece of trash! After everything, you couldn't even help your friends?! _You__'__re worthless!__'_

I couldn't deny that. 'What do you want?'

'Help yourself!'

A lightening lit up the place and reflected off the axe's metal head. It had now reached the highest point.

'So you might take over me later?' I replied in defeat, 'What's the point?'

'You wanted this man to die?' he demanded, '_Then kill him! _You didn't hold back a moment ago because you were fighting to save your friends. Guess what little brat? _Now they__'__re all gone!_'

'I couldn't save them.'

Walther finally brought down the axe with all his strength to execute me. Slowly but surely, it cut its way through the air.

'Then avenge them.' Bonnie's voice, my voice, suddenly became as serious as death. 'Revenge, Brandon. That's all you have left. Take it. Use it. It's such a powerful thing that can turn normal people in monsters. It's why Walther killed you in the first place. It's what we disguise as justice. An eye for an eye.'

I knew that if I gave up to revenge, he'd have no problem taking over me. But I no longer cared about myself. I no longer cared about my friends and my brother. I no longer cared about Mike, Jack or Jeremy, nor seeing my parents again. Without hope, how could I care for any of those things?

Vengeance replaced hope.

I only cared about killing this man.

The world suddenly unfroze all around me. The axe came to my chest at full speed, but I lifted my hand and caught the thing by its handle in the last possible moment. Walther's triumphant smirk was instantly replaced by a disgusted scowl. Feeling as if all the chains around me had snapped, I stood up, never letting go of the handle. I was now fully upright and glaring at my killer in the eyes, who only looked back at me in anger and apprehension as he tugged at the axe, trying to release it from my inhuman grip. I leaned my body back and tore the weapon from his hand with a single violent tug.

The axe was now in my hand.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm really sorry about this cliffhanger guys, I really am! As I said I wanted to give you the ending of the tape in this update, but it wasn't possible. _Hopefully_ the next chap will be up in around two weeks_. _However, I can't make any promises: it'll be quite big in multiple ways.

Thanks again to all of you for reading, and take care. See you next time!


	48. The last tape

**A/N:** Welcome back guys, thanks for being here once again and for your support since the last update.

Now, I really enjoyed this chapter, since it contains multiple scenes that I've been wanting to write since the start. It is also the last chapter of tape 3. This doesn't mean that it's the end of the story, however: I have something much different planned for the final chapters than what the fic has been so far. Right now, I believe this story will end with 52 chapters and and epilogue.

Thank you so much for sticking with me through all this time, and of course, happy reading.

* * *

**Chapter 48: The last tape**

Backing away slowly, Walther raised his opened hands in a calming gesture. "Let's not get too anxious now." His nervous smile quivered. "I'm sure…"

I swung the axe at his head wildly and clumsily. He barely managed to dodge it, and the weapon's edge cut through the air with a sharp whistle. The man stumbled back as he tried to regain his footing. Taking my chance, I lifted the axe again and brought it down upon him, only for him to back away even more. We were now close to the wall separating the twin corridors, opposite to the show stage.

"Bonnie, stop it!" he ordered, gasping for breath. I answered with a bestial growl and another strike at his chest. He leapt back towards the edge of those long tables. "Stop it or you'll regret it!"

"_No._" I hissed, lifting the axe over my shoulders. At the same time, Walther desperately grabbed one of the dinner chairs and raised the heavy object over his head. I brought down the weapon upon them with all my strength. The axe bounced as it hit the metal backbone of the chair, but the strike was enough to crack the piece of furniture in two. My whole body shook from the impact that pushed the man on the floor. He was laying on his back, letting out ragged pants. Growling like an animal, I brought the weapon upon him. Walther quickly rolled to his side, avoiding most of the strike, but I still managed to carve a deep horizontal gash along his lower back.

Baring his teeth in pain, our murderer pulled himself up as quickly as he could, stumbling back until he was against the wall. He pulled a hand behind his back and brought it back to the front with barely any blood, as if his deep injury was nothing more than a little cut.

"What the hell did you do?!" I shouted in fury, "You shouldn't even be able to stand up after that!"

Wheezing like a dog, he showed off that arrogant smirk. "Don't you… remember? I'm harder to kill… than the average guy… because of my blood seal." He swallowed and took a deep breath. "Freddy had that same stupid look in his eyes seven years ago."

I tightened my grip on the weapon and swung it at the man against the wall, who threw himself to a side and narrowly escaped being decapitated. The axe's head buried itself into the hard wall at the same time that Walther fell on the floor. He struggled to get up with his aching back while I struggled to pull the axe from the concrete. The storm was worsening with each second; nothing could be heard outside the building except the pouring rain and frequent thunders, both growing louder as time went on.

Suddenly, as I was tugging furiously at the axe's handle, I heard a distinctive and familiar voice shout my name.

"Brandon?! What's going on?"

I finally managed to free the weapon and turned around hastily to a tall figure between the dining tables, right next to his broken body. His black and dark-red silhouette was now slightly translucent, his back was bent to a painful-looking angle, and although his eyes were now eerie and ghostly white specks, I recognized my surprised friend in them.

"Ferny?!" I shouted with that same bewilderment.

Unsure and confused, he nodded slightly. "Yes. I still know who I am, but I guess that won't last for long. Still, I feel very… different." Fer raised his hand in front of his eyes and moved his fingers, as if testing them. "I'll be a Shadow soon, but for now I guess I'm more like a regular ghost, or phantom." His white pupils suddenly widened in an unnerving way. "Brandon, the book!"

I was so engrossed by Ferny's sudden apparition that I forgot all about Walther. The man took advantage of my distraction to run as fast as he could to the table with the red book. I followed him with axe in hand, ignoring the couple of cold water drops that fell on me from the leaky ceiling.

Our murderer snatched the red book off the table, not stopping for a moment. Ignoring the pain from my battered body, I tried to catch up with him as he went to the broken wall. The desperate man began to squeeze himself through the crack in the thin plaster; his effort and fear only grew as I approached him with a raised axe.

He slipped through completely just when I had arrived. With a triumphant smirk on his reddened, sweating face, he mocked "What's wrong Bonnie? Not slim enough to fit through?" Laughing, he added "Must be all that pizza!"

His laughter was immediately silenced when I began to hack through the wall, growling like a possessed beast. The weapon's metal sliced though the plaster like butter, and with each chunk that fell to the floor, a small cloud of fine white dust rose up around me like smoke. But it was exhausting; I felt my limited energy leave me with each strike, and this was made worse by the torn wires in my damaged face.

Panting, I took a step back before I heard another voice say: "Don't stop you doofus!"

I turned my head to the second figure next to Ferny's new form. Just like him, Sarah had those same unholy white eyes, embedded in a darkened face. Her head was twisted to a side, her bib was barely legible, and it was clear that she too had become an interim shadow: a phantom.

"Sarah, is that you?" I wheezed out.

"Yeah, for now." she replied with concealed sadness. Her gaze dropped slightly for just one moment, but then she quickly focused her sharp eyes on me as she added sternly "We can talk about that after you're done with this! Come on Brandon, you're the only one left. We're with you."

I answered with a firm nod before charging against the dust-covered wall. With a final hack of the axe, the whole thing came crashing down around me. Fragments of plaster stuck to my body, and I wiped away that annoying dust from my remaining eye as I stumbled into the exact place where everything started and everything ended.

Walther was standing firmly at the far side of the room with the red book in hand, glaring at me with an expression of fear and anger. I began to see more details as my eye adjusted to the darkness. The three arcade cabinets that were supposed to entertain me on my birthday were covered in dust, and one of them still had small dark stains on the screen and buttons: Ferny's dried blood. Sarah's crayon drawings still hung proudly on the wall, along with dozens from several kids.

Accompanied by an old safe, a cardboard box filled to the brim with yellowed papers and opened letters lay in the corner next to the arcades, dangerously close to a few puddles of water. However, the most striking detail was the abandoned mechanical suit next to Walther. Spring the golden rabbit was sitting on the floor, slumped forwards slightly like a dead body. Some kind of old wind-up crank was laid next to the hollow suit. Through the years, I had listened to Dave, Erik and other employees enough times to know how the springlock suits work. I knew what would happen to the wearer if some of those locks came loose, and I knew what could do this.

A small piece of paper at my feet suddenly stole my attention. Despite everything, something forced me to pick it up from the moist tiles. The letters on the small ticket had faded to the point of being barely legible, but I could still make out every single one_: __Private Party. Guest of honor. Paid. Date: 8-8-86. Access to all entertainment facilities._

"Time flies, doesn't it Bonnie?!" said Walther with a raised voice as I laid down the ticket. "More than eight years since that day, and it still feels like yesterday!"

"Maybe for you." I hissed through clenched teeth, "Because it feels like an eternity to us."

His smile widened again. "You still remember that, don't you?"

"Every single second."

"And now we're here again, and you will kill me in the same place that I killed you." He let out a short chuckle. "Fate just _loves_ irony, doesn't it?!"

"Works well for me." My hand tightened itself around the axe's handle. "I wish I could say that I won't enjoy this, but I'd be lying."

Walther's eyes shone with content. "Then I've won. You've become a proud murderer, just like me."

"No." I answered firmly, "I will kill you because I have to. You killed us because you wanted to. That's what makes us different. That's why I'll never be like you."

The man shrugged. "Fair enough. Unfortunately, no one will kill me tonight." His hand went to his right pocket and pulled out a piece of folded paper. With a flick of his wrist and a smirk on his face, he showed off my blood seal on the ripped page. "Putting your page in my pocket after erasing the Toys is certainly coming in handy right now."

For a few seconds, the only sounds in the room were the distant ticking of raindrops and the occasional thunder. I remained silent as I pondered my options. Walther's message was clear: if I went to him, he'd break my seal and would probably do the same to my friends' stored in the red book. If I stayed were I was, he'd live.

The sound of dripping water in the room caught my ears' attention and my eye immediately flicked to its source. A few feet to the right of Walther, I saw a small crack in the ceiling lined with water that was on the brink of falling down.

"I see you're not so eager to kill me now, huh?" teased the man, smiling with content as he stored my seal in his pocket again. I stayed silent. "That's what I thought." His triumphant expression suddenly morphed into bewilderment as he stared at something behind me.

I followed his eyes and saw the three ghostly figures of my friends and my brother. Just like Ferny and Sarah, Sean's silhouette was streaked and stained with darkness, as if someone had splattered him with black ink. His left arm was gone, his right shoulder wore the axe's dent, and there was a distinctive tear on a side of his chest.

"Don? Can you hear us?" he said, turning those unnerving white eyes to me. Swallowing down my discomfort, I nodded at him.

"No… this is wrong." grumbled Walther in annoyance and slight fear. "You shouldn't know who you are! You shouldn't be helping him! _You should be gone!"_

"Not yet." answered Sarah with determination.

Walther was shaking his head in denial, when suddenly a wide smile appeared on his face. "Of course… of course!" He chuckled, clearly losing what he had left of composure. "The third special seal! Bucky's safe somewhere, and he's keeping you as sane as he can!" Another crazed laugh left his mouth. "Now I'll have to find him as well, and get rid of that brother and him."

"I won't let you hurt Jack again!" I shouted in alarm, taking a few steps towards him.

He immediately pulled the book in front of him. "Don't get closer Bonnie, or your friends will be gone. Then I'll erase you as well."

Growling in frustration, I stayed in place. However, Ferny wasn't as patient. He went over to the man slowly; his steps didn't make any sound. "What are you doing?!" demanded Walther, glaring at him. Sarah then did the same, slowly creeping to the man. "Stop!" he shouted, "Stop! You can't hurt me anyways, you're not Shadows yet! _Stay back!" _Walther quickly flipped through the book and held a page in front of him. "See this?" he yelled in panic, glaring at Ferny. "_See this?! _I'll break it if you come closer." Both Fer and Sarah stopped their advance midway to the man.

"It looks like someone is afraid of ghosts." whispered Sean next to me. I realized that he was right; as defiant as Walther was towards me, he was terrified of the phantoms that my friends had become.

_He can't stand the sight of ghosts._ I thought. _Despite all he's done, he is afraid of something. And he once said that fear makes men blind… _My eye darted to the murderer, the phantoms, the cracked ceiling and the abandoned suit.

"Brother, go to the Spring suit!" I ordered in a raised voice, making sure that Walther heard me. "There's no one in there! If Jack can keep you sane, maybe he can use his seal to let you possess that body!"

"I don't think that's possible Don." said a confused Sean, "We need a blood seal to…"

"Just do it, brother! Believe me, I know it's possible!"

I did feel slightly guilty for lying to Sean again, but he did what I wanted. With silent and ghostly steps, he neared the springlock suit.

"What are you trying to do?" demanded Walther in panic as the phantom neared the suit. "That's impossible! You can't! And you won't!" The man dashed to Spring, laid the book on the floor next to it and grabbed the crank hastily. He then stuck it in a small opening on the back of the suit, and wound the crank as fast as he could. The springlocks clicked in unison like a hundred clocks as they pulled the robotic mechanisms of the suit to its sides, whilst the back of the mechanical rabbit opened up like a sliding door. As soon as this opening was large enough, Walther squeezed himself into the thing, stood up and pulled out the crank. With a loud snap_,_ the back of the suit closed again.

Sean stopped in his tracks when the suited man picked the book of the floor. "Too slow, Freddy." he teased with a muffled voice, caressing the book's red cover with furred metallic fingers. "Too slow."

Taking some steps forwards and to the left, faking hopelessness and defeat, I asked "What will become of my friends?"

Walther laughed as he took a few steps to the right. "What friends? As soon as I find Bucky and break the seal on his body, your so-called friends will become Shadows. They'll hunt you down like rabid dogs and make you one of them. Then I'll find that Mike Schmidt and gut him like a fish." I could see his perverse grin under to suit's fake smile. "As for you, Bonnie… Oh, the options are endless!"

I took two more steps to the left of the suited man, and he once again stepped to the right, keeping a safe distance between us. "I could just leave you here and let you go insane." he continued happily, "Your old mind will rot away soon enough, leaving away something beautiful: the real you that's growing as we speak. I don't even have to do anything! Hey, maybe I'll bring Bucky to you, and you can destroy him for me! You'll love it, I'm sure of it! I was going to break your body so you'll be a Shadow, just like your friends, but it'll be more fun if they get you first! What would you like more: destroying the ones you love, or being destroyed by them?"

"We're never going to hurt Brandon!" shouted Sarah, "And I'm sure he won't hurt us!"

"We're friends till the end, all of us." added Ferny.

The distracted man laughed heartily once again, shaking his head as he pretended to pinch a tear off the suit's face. When I moved to the left again he automatically went to the right. Finally, he was where I wanted. "You're not fooling anyone here. Brandon and his friends died eight years ago in this room. Look at yourselves now. Look at what you've become, all the pain you've caused, all the people you've killed. Didn't you love it? Isn't this life wonderful? I can't wait to find more stupid little brats. There are so many blank pages left in this book, and I want to fill every single one." His mocking laughter echoed through the room. "Didn't I tell you from the start?! I _always _win! You couldn't even use this suit!"

"Who said that I wanted Sean to possess that suit?" I replied defiantly, earning confused stares from everyone in the room. "You should watch your steps, Walther." Trying hard not to smile, I turned to the nearest wall and raised the axe as high as I could. "Especially when you're wearing a springlock suit!"

I slammed the axe into the wall with all my strength, breaking the wooden handle off the metal head, and felt the room vibrate around us. Right above the killer, the crack on the ceiling finally released its pent-up water. Some fat drops fell on the suit's exposed shoulder, and almost immediately I heard a few springlocks ticking away like a countdown timer.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw Walther's terrified gaze behind Spring's translucent and grey eyes. "No…" gasped the man as the ticking went faster and faster. "No… no… no…" Despair took hold of him when he began to pull at his shoulders, which only loosened more springlocks. "NO!" He turned to the crank on the floor and began to walk as fast as he could towards it, when a small click stopped him in his tracks.

For a moment, nothing happened. Time seemed to stop when my doomed killer turned his eyes to me. In that single eternal second, I could see every thought in his chaotic mind through his eyes. There was no room for anger, only pure, unmasked panic. I'm sure I had that same expression when his knife entered my chest. I wish I could say that I pitied him, that I didn't enjoy the sweet taste of revenge in my mouth, that I regretted giving him a death far worse than mine.

But I'd be lying.

There was a sound like gunshot when the first springlocks snapped into Walther's skin. The man groaned in pain, stumbling back as he tugged at the suit, when the loosened animatronic parts started to drill into his flesh. Howling as thick streams of blood oozed from his shoulder, he tried to pry off the suit's arm hopelessly. But there was no way to stop the chain reaction: the blood from his shoulder leaked down to his sides, loosening the locks there. Another piercing bang filled the room, right before the second set of mechanisms began to crush his chest. The man's loud screams became low, visceral growls, blending with the sound of his ribs breaking; they sounded just like snapping twigs.

"You…" Walther managed to growl out as he turned his furious, blood-shot eyes at me. "You! You damned braAAARRGH!" He finally dropped the book as the suit's arm pulverized his own. Strips of muscle and flesh dripped from Spring's elbow and wrist and fell next to the book. With a single crunch, the suit's whole hand then snapped back into place and macerated Walther's fingers. The man fell to his knees, wailing and crying while the ground remnants of his hand were squeezed out of metal digits.

He was now desperately gasping for air as he slowly stretched his other hand to the book, when another gunshot filled the air: his bleeding chest had triggered the springlocks around his stomach. Dark and viscous blood began to leak out of the Spring's underbelly, accompanied by the squelching sound of his punctured and twisted organs pouring into the suit's hollow stomach.

I don't know when I started smiling. At one moment, I heard Bonnie giggling gleefully in my head. It took me a while to realize that I was doing the same. Taken over or not, I admit that I enjoyed seeing my killer die. Whoever is listening can judge me as they like.

Walther eventually fell backwards in a strange sitting position, holding himself with both arms above a puddle of his own blood, as if lying on the floor meant giving up to death. A few seconds after the suit's calves touched the crimson liquid, his legs were crushed in pretty much the same way as his hands. As I saw his tendons dripping through the joints of the suit like wet noodles, I realized that any normal human would've died minutes ago. Walther's resistance had saved his life when my brother tried to kill him. Now, it was dragging out his suffering.

The phantoms of my friends were staring at the man in the same way as me: unmoving, wide-eyed and completely enthralled. There was neither pity nor joy in their luminous eyes, just relief.

Another snap, softer than the previous, rung through the room. The head mechanisms had finally loosened enough to fail. A few metal bars shot through the man's lower jaw, and he rolled to a side to avoid choking. Broken pieces of his teeth and tongue flowed out of Spring's mouth in a dark-red stream. Walther finally fell on his back, gurgling as his own blood filled what was left of his lungs.

"The book." I heard Sean say next to me, his voice devoid of any emotion. The object was at the edge of the growing pool of blood; Walther still had his arm stretched towards it.

My clouded mind needed a few seconds to process his request. I eventually replied with a wary nod, dropped the axe's handle, went to the choking man and slowly picked up the book. He lifted his crushed eyes to me with an unreadable stare, before finally letting his head fall. The monster that had murdered so many, including my father, my brother and myself, was dying.

"What now, Sean?" I asked, staring blankly at the book's cover. But instead of an answer, I only heard the ticking of raindrops. Desolation welled up inside me as I looked around the empty room, and called out to no one: "Ferny, Sarah, are you there?" More rain fell on the ceiling. "Sean? Brother, please answer me!" A thunder crackled in the distance.

Letting out a deep sigh, I stumbled my way to the giant hole in the wall, feeling completely exhausted. However, as I was about to enter the dining area, a weak groan from behind froze me immediately. I turned around slowly, just in time to see Walther dabbing his finger in his own blood and finishing up his blood seal on top of his chest. His hand then slid off his body limply and his head lolled towards me, staring at me with Spring's grey eyes. With his last breath, he let out a low, gurgling chuckle, and expired. I waited for a last sign of life that wouldn't come. Walther's dead body was now trapped inside Spring, practically fused with the metal creature. It was only a question of time before the same happened to his soul.

'He will come back.' whispered Bonnie in my mind as I stepped into the dining area. 'He always does.'

I continued down the west hallway, trying to ignore his words and the desolate silence that filled the building. My steps grew more laborious as I approached the office, until I finally collapsed in the small room. I was ready to give up, when an idea began to take shape in my mind. There's little hope for me now, and I accept it, but it's not too late for my friends. Maybe I could help them.

Inside the drawers of the office's desk I found what I was looking for: multiple blank cassette tapes and a large key; I'm sure it belongs to that safe in the hidden room. It's been ten hours since I started recording our complete story in these three tapes, and you've reached the end. I don't know who's listening to me right now, but you now know who we are and who we used to be. However, what will become of us now depends on you. Don't believe those stories about Freddy's evil killing animatronics. We're only kids who lost our way, but if we wait long enough, we will be saved.

Please, whoever you are, find Michael Schmidt and Jeremy Fitzgerald if he's still alive and give them these tapes with the book, but don't tell anyone else about us. My friends' souls depend on you. The clocks reads 5:30 AM and the rain has stopped. I will now hide these tapes and the red book inside that safe before Walther comes back.

But I think it's too late for that. I just heard a few heavy steps in the distance, and they're getting closer.

* * *

_End of Tape 3_

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**A/N: **The next part will hopefully be uploaded in two weeks. Also, the credit for Brandon's sentence towards the end goes to NateWantsToBatle's awesome song 'Nightmare'. Thanks for reading, and take care.


	49. November 19th, 1994 5:31 AM

**A/N: **Hello guys, welcome back. Thanks a lot for your support since the last update; it's so good to see you're still enjoying this story.

Now, one thing that I wanted to remind you is that I'm always open to suggestions and corrections. If you spot an error please let me know, even if you're not sure of it. As always, happy reading! Let me know what you think, and take care.

* * *

**Chapter 49: November 19th, 1994. 5:31 AM.**

Brandon pulls his last precious tape out of his body's cassette recorder, lays it on the desk next to the other two, and listens to his surroundings. He can't hear any more steps, but he knows that his murderer has returned.

'What are you waiting for?!' Bonnie hisses at him, 'He's going to destroy us both!'

The sixteen year old can't help but smile at his alter ego's words. 'I didn't know you cared so much about me.' he replies mentally, before picking up the three tapes, the red book and the key. He needs a moment to fit everything under his rigid arm, then leaves the cramped office with the softest steps he can muster.

A sigh of relief rolls from his mouth when he doesn't see anyone else in the west hallway. With his ears up in alert, an exhausted Brandon steps quietly through the forlorn corridor, his only eye a beacon in the darkness. He stops abruptly when he hears a door opening on the opposite side of the building: the killer is in the supply closet.

Taking his chance, Brandon tiptoes as best as he can in between the long dining tables, clutching his precious items tightly. However, having only one eye has damaged his vision more than he thinks. He clips a nearby chair with his broad legs, and the heavy piece of furniture produces a grave metallic noise as it wobbles for a moment. The boy closes his remaining eye almost painfully as he strains his ears, just to hear what he feared: a slamming door followed by quick, heavy footsteps.

Brandon dashes to the hole in the wall as fast as he can, but his physical damage has drained most of his strength. By the time he enters the empty room and sees a short series of bloody footprints, birthed from the dark pool of blood where Spring used to be, he can barely walk. With one laborious step after the other, he eventually reaches the safe in the corner of the large room and falls to his knees in front of it.

He can hear the footsteps of his killer outside the door becoming louder and slower. The boy lays the five items on the floor, grabs the key between his thick, clumsy fingers and carefully inserts it in the lock. Momentary relief washes over him when he twists the key and hears the lock turning. Brandon then opens the safe's thick metal door to reveal its empty interior, and picks up the first tape.

A cold, steely chuckle behind him turns his body into ice. "What do you think you're doing, Bonnie?" The creature's amused voice has the texture of sandpaper and possesses a strange metallic echo. Brandon rapidly stuffs the other two tapes and the red book inside the safe, slams the door shut, secures the lock and turns around.

He meets a nightmare turned into flesh and bone, steel and fur. Spring's previously lifeless grey eyes are now lit with pinpoints of white light, just like Jack's. However, the light coming from them couldn't be more different. Brandon has always felt Jack's eyes as a warm, pure and welcoming light. The glowing grey orbs of the figure in front of him are the exact opposite: they irradiate the unbridled hatred and psychopathy of the soul behind them.

Walther's dried blood has turned Spring's cheery golden fur into a dirty brown. Particles of flesh and cartilage dot the suit's exterior, and Brandon can see tendons and muscle coiled around the suit's joints. A sickening squelching accompanies the mechanical clanking of springs and crossbeams as the creature approaches him; its bloodseal glows a dim red for a moment.

"How does it feel?" asks Brandon flatly. "How does it feel to live inside a machine? You always told us that it was wonderful, that this life was your gift to us. Is it that good, Walther?"

The murderer stays silent for a moment, before replying with exaggerated joy "Absolutely! I feel… fantastic."

Brandon shakes his head slowly. "You're a terrible liar."

"And you are an ungrateful, snotty brat who never grew up." the creature spits out in response. "But that can be fixed." He stabs a finger between the suit's belly and hip, and slowly pulls down the suit's midsection. Pieces of skin and gut drop to the ground, exposing the clothes around the cadaver's waist.

Although he knows the answer, Brandon asks calmly: "What are you doing, Walther?" He's completely at ease, having completed his last assignment and accepted his fate.

"Don't call me like that." growls the killer in irritation, rummaging through the mess of flesh, metal and dried blood between the suit and his body.

"What's your name, then?" Brandon's tired voice almost sounds amused, completely indifferent to the gory spectacle in front of him. After all, he was no stranger to blood. "Spring? Spring Bonnie? How about something more descriptive." He smiles at the subtle pun of his next idea: "Springtrap?" The creature's eyes seem to light up for a moment, and Brandon takes it as a sign of acceptance. "Springtrap it is."

The reanimated murderer huffs in slight amusement as he takes hold of something in his pocket. "I think you'll shut your mouth soon enough." Holding his midsection down with one hand, he pulls out the folded piece of paper with the other. He then releases his suit's middle, and the piece of furred metal snaps back into place. "Do you know what this is?" he asks triumphantly, shaking some blood and skin off the page as he holds it with one hand.

A silent Brandon nods slowly, but the killer still shows off the dirty bloodseal to him, smiling with crimson-tainted teeth. "Here's what we will do. You'll give me that key, and I won't erase you. Simple as that."

Silence reigns over the room for a few seconds. The boy considers standing up and ripping the page from the murderer's metal hand, only to find that his legs won't respond. As it is, Brandon can barely keep himself awake with the sustained damage and his body's limited energy. "And what do I win?" he asks, voice barely above a whisper.

"Your existence. You'll live on as a Shadow, or your old mind will rot away, but you'll still exist." The murderer's voice sounds surprisingly calm, almost friendly, like a parent trying to convince his stubborn child to take the right decision. As much as he despises Brandon, he doesn't want to erase him; he'd rather see what will become of him when his hate and anger finally consume what's left of his humanity.

"There's not much you can do for your friends." continues the creature in a condescending tone, "And there's no way to go to a better place without erasing your friend Bucky. Why would you end your existence, everything that you are, for a lost cause?"

"Brandon, give him the key." says a familiar male voice in the middle of the room. The phantoms of Ferny, Sarah and Sean look at the one-eyed figure with expectation. "Think about yourself." continues Fer.

"But what about you?" asks Brandon weakly, "He can erase you at any time."

"Don't worry about us." replies Sarah gently, "Maybe there's hope for us, even as Shadows! Or someone might find a way to get you back to normal if you lose your mind! Or…"

A sad smile appears on Brandon's broken face. "You know that's not true. There won't be any hope for any of us as long as he has the book."

"And you?!" shouts the girl. "There won't be any hope for you if you're erased!"

The teen sighs and removes the key from the lock. He holds the small object in his hand, inspecting it with a far-away gaze. "I know."

"Don, listen to me." Sean takes some silent steps to his brother as he takes the key between his fingers. "I need you! We _all _need you! Please, don't leave us alone." A soft sob interrupts Sean's words. "I can't see Mom and Dad again without you. I can't rest knowing that there's nothing left of you." He lowers his head and stares at his brother with broken eyes. "Please… don't do this."

Brandon takes the smaller end of the key in his other hand. "I'm sorry, brother. When you get there, tell Mom and Dad that I love them with all I am." And with a quick twist, he snaps the key in two.

"_You idiot!__"_ The murderer dashes to Brandon, grabs him by his neck with his free hand and slams his head against the floor. "You've doomed your friends! No one can open that safe without a key!"

"Get your hands off him, you freak!" growls a furious Sean, running at the springlock suit to push him away from his brother. However, his ghostly body simply goes through the creature like water through a net. The murderer can't keep himself from chuckling as a confused Sean tries to understand what happened, staring at his translucent hand in complete bewilderment. Sarah and Ferny can only stare at the spectacle with anger and helplessness in their eyes, realizing there's nothing to do.

The former man happily puts all his weight on Brandon's head, and the boy groans in pain as he feels his head being crushed. "N-No…" he wheezes out, "Someone… will come… and save them. S-Someone will open this safe and find the book."

"But no one will save you." The murderer finally releases Brandon and the boy rolls on his back, staring up at his killer just in time to see him rip the page in two. His flickering eye follows the halves of paper as they flutter through the air and land softly next to his body.

"NO!" All three friends cry out in unison, filling the room with their ghostly lament. Brandon's lonely eye dims down gradually, and his breaths become slower and shallower as his friends kneel to surround his body. An amused killer takes some steps back, enjoying the tragic spectacle with a horrendous, bloody smile. He's too engrossed to wonder why the boy is not instantly erased like the Toys.

Sarah's eyes dim down in sadness, giving the impression of tears on the phantom's orbs. Whimpering softly, she tries to gently caress Brandon's arm, despite knowing it's impossible. "You d-doofus…" she cries softly, Why? W-Why did you…"

The boy on the floor smiles, and whispers meekly "F-Friends… till the end, right?"

Heartbroken, Sarah tries to force out some gentle words, only for these to drown in her throat. The girl closes her eyes and lowers her head, crying inconsolably next to her friend.

Ferny is simply shocked. His agile mind can't process the input from his senses, nor grasp the idea that his best friend is fading away, disappearing in front of his eyes. Despite his best effort to articulate any kind of sensible farewell, he can only produce incoherent stutters and sobs as Brandon fights against his closing eye. Finally, he begs in a broken voice "D-Don't fall asleep… don't f-fall asleep… don't fall asleep… don't… f-fall…" But eventually, he too succumbs to his crying.

Sean has his hand on his little brother's forehead, trying to comfort him. "I'm sorry, private." he whispers gently as Brandon turns his half-lidded eye to him. "I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry…" The older brother covers his eyes, crying above his sibling's body. "I love you Don." he wails out, "I can't g-go on without you. I c-can't… I just can't…"

Brandon finally closes his eye, and with his last ounce of strength, says gently "You can… brother…" His head lolls down to the side, and he whispers with a final breath: "I'll… stay… here…"

"What?" moans Sean, uncovering his eyes. "What d-do you mean?" He looks down at his brother's face: one eye is closed, the other destroyed by Walther's axe. His mouth hangs open ever so slightly, as if deeply asleep, and the corners are curved up lightly in a peaceful smile. "Brandon?" Sean asks, hoping against hope for an answer. "D-Don?" A crushing silence answers his plea. "P-Please… please… don't leave me, little brother. Don't leave us… Don't go… _Don__'__t go!_" His words drown as he weeps next to his brother's inert body, shaking his head in denial.

Monstrous phantoms that used to be happy, careless children stay together for long minutes, grieving next to the body that houses Brandon's soul. Gold-tinted images of their friend torment and comfort their hearts; painfully sweet memories that might as well have been dreams.

Eventually, an alarm-clock beeps in the distance, announcing that it's 6 am. The first rays of pale sunlight soon sneak into the abandoned room, and the aching phantoms look at each other in confusion as their already-translucent forms thin out gradually, like a picture being erased by the light.

"What's going on?" murmurs Sarah, her voice low and weak by her relentless crying.

"Ghosts can only exist at night." replies the creature nonchalantly, "It seems like you're in for a long nap."

The devastated trio begins to fade away in earnest, washed away by the light. Their features blur out until they're little more than hazy grey silhouettes with white eyes. An indistinguishable Sean then gets on his feet, and glares at the killer with a hate that's only made stronger by his grief. "You'll pay for this!" he shouts with a distant voice, as if he was at the other side of the building. "Sooner or later, you'll burn in hell!"

With a stoic expression, the monster answers coolly "We'll see about that."

In the next blink of an eye, the last trace of the phantom's presence disappears completely. The room that housed five souls minutes ago is now occupied only by Brandon's body and his killer.

Content, the murderous creature looks at the tranquil smile etched across the body's face. "What are you smiling about, brat?" he mocks triumphantly, "Your friends no longer have a body, and after I'm finished with Bucky they won't have a mind either. That last guard can't protect him against _me_. This placed is closed down, soon you'll be forgotten, your stupid tapes will never be heard by anyone, and if someone _does_ hear them, what difference does it make? Everything that you were: body, mind and soul, has been erased. All that effort and you still didn't get a happy ending. I win, you lose, end of the story."

The monster walks up to the pool of dried blood in the middle of the room, and grins when he looks at it. It's in this moment when Walther surrenders his old identity. His smile only widens when he realizes that 'Springtrap' is growing on him. Curious, he lifts his hand in front of his new face, and clenches his fist. The crunching of bones and sinew blends with the hydraulic whirring, creating a morbid yet enticing new sound. He takes it as his baptism of blood.

"Mike and Jack Schmidt" Springtrap murmurs lazily, looking at the door through the hole in the wall, "Jack Schmidt… oh, I will love to kill you again."

Suddenly, as if a switch had been turned off, the killer feels his strength leaving his new body. Perplexed, he stumbles over to the nearest wall, struggling to put one feet in front of the other. _Why is this happening? _he ponders, slightly alarmed. _I don__'__t need a battery like them. I__'__ve been controlling this body with my seal since the start._ His eyes widen in realization, then narrow in frustration as he leans a hand on the wall. _I can only control the suit for a limited time; the same time when they were taken over. _

Springtrap bends over as he hopelessly tries to keep himself on two feet. However, he soon falls into sitting position against the wall. The creature's body twitches painfully for a few seconds, before shutting off completely. However, behind the seemingly dead eyes of the suit, the killer remains painfully conscious. Now, it is him who's been paralyzed.

* * *

It's midmorning when Erik walks up to the building's front door, accompanied by another burly man. Making sure that no one was seeing them, the former manager quickly unlocks the front door and steps inside, only to almost faint in shock at the sight in front of him.

The broken bodies of Sean, Ferny and Sarah lie pretty close together in the middle of the dining area, flanked by fragments of metal, loose animatronic parts and a broken dinner chair. The wall opposite to the show stage wears a heavy dent from Brandon's axe strike. Tiny drops of blood scattered on some tiles evidence Walther's wounded back, and a blanket of fine white dust covers the floor in front of the torn wall of the hidden room.

"What the hell happened here?!" yells Erik in astonishment. He can't feel angry or guilty at the destruction of property that's no longer his responsibility.

"Beats me." replies Boris. "But you know that me and the boys will leave this place clean. No one will suspect anything. No bodies this time, right?"

The other man doesn't dare to give an answer as he approaches the hidden room. Soon enough, the poignant coppery smell of drying blood welcomes both men, who stare at the contents of the room in surprise, particularly the human body trapped inside the rabbit springlock suit.

"Who's that?" asks Boris flatly.

Even though Walther's covered body is barely recognizable, Erik doesn't hesitate of his identity. "Someone that I was hoping never to see again." he answers curtly. "Can you get rid of him?"

A confident smile appears on Boris' broad face. "You know me. For the right price, I can do anything."

Erik frowns. He's not sure if he can afford said removal and disposal without the franchise's money.

Seeing a potential client doubt, Boris adds immediately "But we can hide him right here."

"What do you mean?"

A furious Springtrap can only hear the two men talk about him as he fantasizes multiple ways to kill them and leave the building. However, despite his efforts, he can't move his fingers, let alone get rid of these unwanted visitors.

"We will rebuild that wall, make it a bit thicker, and no one will ever find him." Boris taps the remainder of the drywall to emphasize his answer. "As easy and cheap as it sounds."

_NO! _The killer shrieks, but no sound leaves his body. _Don__'__t you dare trap me in here with nothing to do! _He once again tries to stand up with no result.

Drumming his fingers impatiently, Erik ponders for a few seconds but sees no further option. Any evidence, any trace that might lead to his involvement in hiding the franchise's crimes has to be erased. He longs for a cigarette as he mutters "Sounds good."

"What will we do with the rest?" continues the 'cleaner'.

"Those papers in that cardboard box…" The former manager turns to the object in question. "We're burning them."

"And the animatronics?"

"We could sell them to collectors."

Boris' eyebrows rise in surprise. "There are people who'd _pay_ for these things?!"

A small smile crosses Erik's face. "You'd be surprised what people are willing to pay for nowadays. We're charging extra for Bonnie, he's in the best condition." The man walks up the body in question and inspects its features. "You can almost say that the missing eye adds personality. Funny, it's almost like he's smiling. I've never seen him do that…"

The safe, housing Brandon's tapes and the red book, steals the former manager's attention. He stares at the black metal box with curiosity, trying to remember how the thing got there in the first place.

"I guess you'll sell that as well." Boris asks, eyeing the safe with crossed arms.

Erik shakes his head. "I think it's empty. But if there's something in there it'll be evidence."

"Then we'll get rid of it?"

For a few seconds, the former manager only stares at the black box. That would certainly be the safest option. But something in his mind disagrees, ordering him to take a risk if he won't take responsibility.

"No." Erik says matter-of-factly,"There's someone who needs this. I'm sure that it's empty, but if it's not, she deserves to know."

* * *

Eighteen hours later, in the cold and quiet early morning, a restless figure parades around its tomb restlessly. The creature stops its aimless wandering momentarily and stares at its surroundings.

Admittedly, the room _could _be smaller. He had enough space to walk rather comfortably, if it weren't for the ground remnants of his old body in his joints. But without the box of papers, Brandon's body, the arcade machines and the safe, the dark rectangular space felt strangely lonely. They were all taken away by Boris and his companions in the early afternoon, before sealing him in here. He chuckled at the fact that any decoration, even those hideous objects, was better than the barren chamber he was in.

Springtrap then walks up to the place in the wall where there used to be an opening, feeling the rough plaster with his fingers of metal and fake yellow fur. From past experience, he already knows that it's pointless to try and smash his way through. He was trapped, in more ways than one.

Distant, muffled voices call his attention, and the murderer leans his head against the wall. The faint hope of salvation wells inside him momentarily, before crumbling when he recognizes those voices. They're just the phantoms of Sean, Ferny and Sarah, having an indistinguishable conversation that nevertheless reeked of despair and hopelessness.

_I guess I__'__ll just have to wait. _Springtrap turns to the far wall where the arcades used to be, sits on the floor and leans his back against it. Without any form of clock, he realizes that it's worth having some kind of timekeeping system. The bored creature then lifts his hand to the wall lazily, and using a sharp metal wire sticking out of his finger, carves a straight vertical line.

"Night one." he whispers to himself, "Let's see how long it takes to get out of here."


	50. Old faces, new lives

**A/N: **Welcome back everyone, thanks for you patience. Hopefully this chapter's length will make up for the wait.

As for this chap, I have to warn you that it's very different from previous ones. It's not really as dramatic or fast as previous ones, but it's necessary to set everything up for the finale. As always, please let me know how you like it, and happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 50: Old faces, new lives.**

Lying in bed, a woman stares idly at the white ceiling of her modest apartment. Her tired, yet restless eyes inspect its small imperfections in pure boredom. She knows them by heart: the light-brown water stain, the slight bump in the corner, some dark scratches made by the previous owners' cat, and the inescapable grime. It's a complete waste of time, but that's exactly what she needs to numb her brain into something similar to sleep. According to her psychologist, her insomnia would disappear as soon as she abandoned her obsession with her father's mysterious death.

She scoffs at the thought. More than thirty years later, and the ghosts of Freddy Fazbear's still haunt her.

A soft buzzing startles her out of her trance and shatters the room's silence. The bleary woman blinks a few times to start up her brain, before rolling to her bedside table and grabbing her smartphone. She sighs when she reads the caller's ID on the screen, but she doesn't hesitate to answer.

"Peter, for Christ's sakes, it's 5:30 AM." she mutters as greeting, "And it's Saturday. Do you even sleep?"

A grave, warm masculine voice chuckles at the other end of the line. "My dear Evie, let's admit it: we're both terrible at sleeping."

Despite the untimely call, Evelyn Hobbs can't help but smile. This man, Peter Roper, has always been the lawyer of her family. He was the one who arranged all legal issues surrounding her father's death, and pressured the Freddy's franchise for answers. In those troubled months, he quickly became a father figure for the little girl and an anchor for her widowed mother. And those bonds only grew stronger after the unexpected death of Evelyn's mother, Laura Hobbs. Now the little girl was in her mid-thirties, the man was pushing to seventy, and they still didn't have answers surrounding Dave's disappearance. After Laura's funeral, they agreed to bury that unpleasant past with her.

They never did.

"You could leave a message." continues Evie, feigning irritation. "I'm sure you know how to do that. You're not _that _old."

Peter huffed in amusement. "I don't want to bother our dear assistant DA with more messages, but this is important. It's about Laura."

Evie's smile disappears immediately. For a couple of seconds, the room is submerged in silence again. She then whispers flatly "Mom died two years ago. I thought it was all settled."

"Legally speaking, yes." Pete's voice becomes slightly unsure as he tries to find the right words. "But I… I was searching through some old papers of mine, _really _old papers, and I found an envelope addressed to you in case something happened to her. Evie, believe me, I'm sorry. I don't know how I missed it, but your mother left you something."

"Didn't she write a will after Dad disappeared?" asked the stunned woman.

"She did. But this is different. It's a letter to you and a deed of personal property. I haven't opened your letter, but the deed describes an old safe kept in a self-storage facility that would become your property in case something happened to her."

"Wait… wait a minute." Evelyn rested a hand on her forehead, trying to process everything. "Why would Mom want me to have an old safe after she died? We never had anything like that."

"I don't know, and the deed doesn't specify where it's from. But we can guess."

Those words made everything clear to the woman. It was taboo to mention Freddy's name between them.

"The self-storage with the safe opens up at six o'clock." continues the man, "I have the address right here, and I can get there by 6:30. Shall we meet there at that time?"

The woman's lips draw a listless smile. "Do you think I have a choice?"

* * *

True to her word, Evelyn pulls her modest sedan into the facility's parking lot at the agreed-upon time. She buttons up her coat and clutches her large coffee thermos like a life saver before opening the car's door, just to be greeted by a gust of chilly November wind. The massive grey building and overcast sky don't offer her any kind of welcome, unlike the robust man waiting for her by the facility's main door.

Peter leans against his battered station-wagon and waves at the woman, who returns the greeting with a broad smile. Evie speeds her pace, and soon finds herself enveloped by the man's arms.

"I brought you some coffee." she says, slowly pulling herself from the embrace before offering the thermos.

Peter takes it with a grateful smile, which soon disappears as he feels the thermos' light weight. "Evie, how much coffee did you drink on your way here?" he asks in slight concern.

"A little." was the woman's evasive reply. Peter then raises an eyebrow, and Evelyn simply sighs. "Okay, a lot."

The man shakes his head before taking a small sip. "Thanks. Now, before anything else, here's what we came here for." He buries his hand in his coat's pocket, pulls out a medium-sized envelope and handles it to the woman. Evelyn opens it and lets its contents slide down to her hand. The refolded, typewritten deed doesn't have much new information to offer, except the unit where the safe is stored. As expected, it's nothing more than a formal document without any real message from her diseased mother.

The sealed letter, on the other hand, shows Laura's handwriting on the yellowed envelope: _For my dear Evie_. Swallowing the knot in her throat, the woman hesitates to open the letter just long enough for an employee to walk up to the pair. Evelyn quickly hides the letter in her pocket as the middle aged man in a drab uniform approaches them.

"Can I help you with anything?" he asks in a monotone voice, hiding a yawn.

"You actually can, my friend." replies Peter with his characteristic gentleness, "The young lady has come to possession of a certain object stored in your facility; an old safe-box if I'm not mistaken. We were wondering if you might take us to it, and if necessary, help us open it."

Evelyn immediately shows the written deed to the man. With a small nod of acceptance, the employee gestures the pair to follow him to the front doors. He then pulls his smartphone from his pocket as they enter the building, and types a quick message. "Our locksmith will be meeting us there in a moment." he says.

The woman can't help but feel slightly unsettled as they pass by dozens of storage units. She doesn't want any stranger to see the contents of the safe, whatever they might be. A lingering anxiousness conflicts with her sense of duty as the three adults enter an elevator at the end of the hallway. The man then presses the button for the fifth and last floor.

As the elevator's doors shut in front of them, Evelyn feels the letter itching in her pocket. She barely resists the temptation of ripping it open in front of the two men for the rest of the ride. As the doors open again, Peter and her meet with an unexpected sight. Instead of the usual corridors lined with identical roll-up doors, a large open space, similar to an unusually disorganized warehouse, stretches out before them.

"I thought we were looking for a storage unit?" asks Peter.

The employee raises his shoulders indifferently. "This is the largest unit of all. People who only have a few objects and don't want to pay for a regular unit can bring them here. It's much cheaper, too. Sometimes people pay ahead for years and leave their stuff to be inherited with us, so that it can be claimed in case something happens to them." He then turns to Evelyn. "Maybe that's what your mom did. She was your mom, right? The title only said names and…"

"Yes." interrupts the woman, stopping the man abruptly. The last thing she wants is revealing her life to a stranger. "Where's the safe?"

Raising an eyebrow in slight annoyance, the employee starts walking to the farthest corner. They arrive after a few minutes. "Here's where we keep the smallest, individual objects. So it should be around here…"

The uniformed man scrounges around the corner, hoping to find something resembling the stereotypical image of a safe-box. Peter only stays back and watches the man work, still holding Evelyn's thermos. Meanwhile, the woman scans her surroundings keenly, in the opposite direction of the employee digging through years of dust, lint balls and random objects. It doesn't take her long to spot a smooth, black metal object under some empty cardboard boxes. She quickly lays them on the floor next to her, finally revealing an old safe-box covered in dust.

"I think I found it." she calls to her companions in a flat tone. The object in front of her seems strangely inviting, and she runs a finger along its dusty surface. However, that dim feeling of angst still persisted in the pit of her stomach. A small sticker with a series of handwritten numbers above the handle calls her attention.

"There should be another series of numbers on that deed of yours." says the employee, approaching the woman with Peter. "Do they match with the numbers on that safe?"

Evelyn checks her deed and inspects some numbers in the upper left corner. "They do." is her reply.

"Then it's yours. I'll go see if our locksmith is here." And with that, the employee turns away and walks back to the elevator.

It's only after its doors are closed that the woman dares to pull out her letter. She holds it in her hands for long seconds, running her fingers across her mother's handwriting.

"It was hard, wasn't it?" she says softly as Peter comes beside her. "And I was getting over it too. Finally trying to move on with my life. Maybe do all that stuff you're supposed to get done when you're 35. Get married. Have children. Grow fat. Move to the suburbs and spend 700 dollars on a damn Labrador puppy…"

"Evie, you should know that there's no 'right' way to live your life." Peter lays a hand on her shoulder softly. "We're just mortal humans, doing our best with what we have left of time. And the fact that you've come this far with all those things holding you back is quite remarkable."

The woman only looks up to the aged man, lips drawn up in a grateful smile. She then allows her eyes to fall back to the letter, and with little hesitation, opens the envelope and extracts the note inside it.

_August 12, 2007._

_Evelyn,_

_I hope this letter finds you in a good moment of your life. A few hours ago we waved goodbye as you took a bus to your first day of college. There__'__s not much to say that I haven__'__t said already: you know you have my whole heart and love. But I__'__m sure you__'__re confused, as I was when I first received this safe many years ago._

_As we all know, Freddy__'__s closed at the end of 1994. Few things were recovered, and I don__'__t find it unlikely that documents about the death of those children, your father and other employees were destroyed by someone. They were tough times for everyone connected to the tragedies of that place. I remember talking to a young man, brother of one of the victims. He seemed completely unwilling to accept that this was it, and that there would be no answers for anyone. The poor kid was in denial._

_A few months after the closing, I received a call from a man you might know of. Erik Grant, your father__'__s manager and supposed friend, said he wanted to give me something. I sent him to hell and almost hung up, when he mentioned that it might contain answers. He also apologized profusely for the death of your dad, something he had never done before. I reluctantly agreed to meet up with him in a self-storage facility, where he showed me the safe. He told me that it might be empty, or might contain the answers we seek, and it was all mine. I was baffled; why would this man risk ending up in jail for me? I guess guilt finally got the best of him._

_I could__'__ve opened the safe right there and then, finally learn something more, maybe even have the final answers, or leave in disappointment with an empty box. I could__'__ve ended it all. But I didn__'__t; a new kind of fear took hold of me. What if I learned something I didn__'__t want to know? What if, instead of honoring your father__'__s memory, I corrupted it? I would never be able to overcome my grief if I found something proving he had covered or destroyed evidence. Evie, please don__'__t be mad at me. It__'__s a hard pill to swallow, and I like to think it__'__s a small possibility, but it is there. _

_At the end, this fear killed my desire for knowledge. Ignorance truly is bliss. I write this letter so you might receive it after my death, since I__'__m afraid you__'__ll hate me for choosing not to end our uncertainty. Years after that, at the end of __'__98, I tried to get in touch with Erik again, only to find out that he had died of lung cancer. The only hopes of finally bringing the truth to light are in that box. I was too much of a coward to open it, but I know you__'__re braver than me, Evelyn. You always were._

_With love,_

_-Mom._

The woman's hands tremble around the paper, clamping on it like a vice. A bitter taste fills her mouth and she closes her eyes forcefully, before releasing a heavy sigh. "Mom… why did you leave this to me?"

Peter clears his throat as he carefully approaches her, and whispers "Evelyn, the locksmith is here."

She was so engrossed by the letter, that she had ignored the newest presence completely. The small man with blue overalls and greasy toolbox stares back at her with an uneasy smile.

"Are you okay, Evie?" asks the older man in concern.

"I've been better, to be honest." she says flatly, "But I've been worse. I just need something to drink." Peter reluctantly hands her over the thermos, and she savors the last ounces of smooth black as they roll down her tongue.

"Are you sure you want to open this now?" Peter stares at the box with slight disdain. "I mean, there's always another day. We can wait."

Evelyn shakes her head. "Thirty years of waiting is more than enough. I just want to get all this over with." She then turns to the locksmith. "Sir, you can begin. We'll stay here."

Armed with a surplus of instruments, the man doesn't need too much time to unlock the old safe. He's about to open it for his clients, when Evelyn quickly stops him, saying: "I think those contents are private." He then leaves her alone with Peter again.

"Here goes nothing." Evelyn kneels down in front of the object, trying to keep her excitement and angst under control with limited success. As she opens the heavy iron door, she expects and even hopes to find nothing but air inside of the box.

Instead, she's greeted by three cassette tapes and a small red book.

* * *

_COMING SOON! _

_Fazbear__'__s Fright: The Horror Attraction!_

_Local amusement park is getting ready to scare your socks off with a new attraction based on the unsolved mysteries of Freddy Fazbear__'__s Pizza. _

_Featuring actual relics from the decades-old pizzeria, this new attraction is guaranteed to bring back your childhood in the worse possible way!_

"You have to be freaking kidding me."

The man groans in indignation as he tosses the newspaper on the dining table, takes off his reading glasses and runs a hand through his dark-grey hair. "They actually did it." he mutters lowly, closing his blue eyes as he shakes his head in bafflement.

"What's wrong, Mike?" a woman's voice calls from the kitchen, her back turned to the man.

"They're actually going on with it."

The woman walks speedily to the table, picks the newspaper and scans the small add rapidly. Despite being in her mid-fifties and slightly older than her husband, it was Mike who usually received the teasing jokes and compliments for marrying a younger woman. Only a few wrinkles around her eyes and some stray white hairs betray her age.

She lays down the newspaper on the table, eyes beset with slight worry as she turns to her husband. "I don't like it, but maybe you could take the chance to see them again and warn them. It's been quite some time."

Clearly doubtful, Mike returns her stare. "Yin, there's not much left to see. If Jack's right, I really don't know if we can help them anymore. Even _I_ could barely recognize them. They're forgetting everything they were, everything they went through."

She stuck her hands in her pockets, shrugging. "I still like to believe we can save them. Even after all this time."

"I like to think that as well." replies Mike, "But we can't do anything without that book."

It's in this moment that a soft buzz interrupts the couple's conversation. The man's smartphone drones on top of the dining table, its screen flashing as if begging for attention. Mike grabs the object and tries to read its display, only to see a blurred out version of its numbers and letters. He quickly puts on his reading glasses and scowls at the sight: _Unknown number. _With a swipe of his finger he dismisses the call.

"Same number?" Yin asks.

"Yeah, same number." A hint of annoyance appears on Mike's voice. "It must be a scammer. Then again, most scammers aren't stupid enough to call someone at 10 at night." He looks back at his wife. "Let's go to bed, it's been a long day."

The doorbell then rings loud and clear through the household, practically mocking the tired man as he stands up. "Who the hell is it?"

Yin simply raises her shoulder. "The boys aren't coming until next week, so I have no idea."

Mike shuffles himself begrudgingly to the door, sighs in frustration, and swings it open. Of all the people he expected to see, from a girl scout to an overtly-passionate evangelist, he meets a regular woman in semi-formal clothing with a large handbag.

"Michael Schmidt?" she immediately asks, eyes beaming with excitement and restlessness.

"Uh, maybe." The man squints in surprise and confusion. "I'm sorry ma'am, but who are you?"

"My name is Evelyn Hobbs, and I have something urgent to tell you. Actually, I have many urgent things to tell you, and I was hoping you might let me in."

Mike raises his opened hands, as if trying to hold her back. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until next week. It's Saturday night and I just want to spend a relaxing evening with my wife, call my boys in college and rest."

"Mr. Schmidt, it's about your brother and his friends."

The man's tired expression quickly morphs into displeasure. "Look ma'am, I don't know who you are or how you know my name, but if this is some joke I'm gonna ask you to leave. My brother was murdered almost forty years ago and I was his only friend. If you're serious, you're probably confusing me with some other guy. Have a good night."

He's about to swing the door at her, when she quickly pulls something out of her handbag. The man's body turns to stone as Evelyn shows him the red book. "Mike, I know that wasn't the end for your brother or those other kids." she says in a gentle, calm voice. "I'm an ally. Freddy's also took away someone that I loved. We both want the same, and I think I can help. Now, may I come in?"

Around an hour later, the three adults are sitting around the dinner table, each one with a small mug in front. The three tapes and the red book are displayed in the middle, oddly placed next to a bowl of plastic fruit and a napkin holder. Mike and Yin look at each other and at their lukewarm tea as Evelyn finishes the contents of her mug. "Are you sure you don't want more coffee?" asks the man.

Putting down her mug, the younger woman shakes her head. "Thank you Mr. Schmidt, but I'm good."

The man grins, and his light wrinkles suddenly become more visible. "I asked you to call us Mike and Yin, didn't I?"

Evelyn flashes an apologetic smile. "Sorry, just old court habits." Her tone becomes more serious as she adds: "Like we were saying, it's pretty clear what happened to Brandon. Considering the position he was in when he finished recording, I'm almost sure that Walther, or the _thing _he was at that point, broke the page he found in his pocket."

"We agree." says Yin, "It's awful that he can't be with his friends, even in that state. If Mike hadn't done what he did before that night, things wouldn't be the way they are."

"Completely right." continues the man, "It's a shame. I really thought I was doing the right thing by not telling them about that, even after it worked out. Brandon must've been really scared during that, assuming he didn't figure it out at the end." He sighed and looked at the unlabeled tapes. "I'd apologize to him right now if he were here with us."

Evelyn's eyes also fall to the tapes. "I listened to those three things from start to finish, so I know most of Brandon's story up to that point. But I don't know what happened after that, and Brandon didn't get the chance to know you better."

Mike purses his lips. "Things happened, but not as many as I would've liked. Sarah, Ferny and Sean are still there to this day, but they can only appear between sunset and sunrise. We tried to visit them, but they're… losing themselves."

"What do you mean?" asks Evie.

"Sometimes they're normal, sometimes they act like they're taken over. But over the last few years or so, they're spending more and more time out of their minds, even with Jacob's help. Ferny actually lunged at me the last time I was there." Evelyn's eyes widen with surprise, and Mike adds quickly: "But nothing happened! They can't really harm anyone. Curiously enough, Mangle and Balloons are there as well. They found their way back somehow. Sean once told me that Marionette's there as well. I've never seen those other three, but I don't think they're as friendly as the kids. Then again, the kids haven't been that friendly either…"

"Then we're running out of time." says Evelyn with urgency.

"Definitely." resumes Yin. "Ever since Mike told me these secrets we've been looking for that book. Now that we have it, there's a chance to finally save them. Thank you, Evie."

Both women share a small smile. "It's nothing."

"No Evelyn, it's a lot." Yin insists firmly, "We owe you one. Is there anything we can do for you?"

The younger woman stares back at the satisfied couple. In her world of formalities and bluffing, that was a common sentence rarely spoken with honesty. However, by the genuine tone of Yin's voice and Mike's silence, it's clear that they truly mean it. And Evelyn wasn't one to ignore an honest, friendly offer.

"It's kind of a big favor." she says, "And we still don't know each other that much, but I was wondering if I could see him."

"What do you mean?" asks Mike.

"It it's okay with you, I'd like to meet Jack. I just… need to know for sure that this is real."

The surprised couple exchange doubtful glances, and for one second Evelyn fears that she might have overstayed her welcome. But this worry soon disappears when Mike turns to her with trust in his eyes. "Well, it's been a while since my little brother met someone new." he says, rising from his chair. "He's downstairs, just follow me."

Both women follow Mike through a small living room next to the kitchen, to a narrow hallway with multiple doors. "Just the boys' bedrooms and ours." Yin clarifies, reading the questioning look on Evelyn's face. "But the place is a bit lonelier since they're in college."

"I can imagine." replies Evie in sympathy.

Mike opens an unassuming door at the narrow end of the hallway and flicks on a light switch, revealing a descending set of concrete stairs. Once again he leads the way, and the three soon find themselves in a small, drab and practically empty basement. A few buckets, some moving boxes and an empty wooden shelf add to the depressive air.

"Don't worry, this isn't Jack's room." says Mike immediately with an easing smile, feeling Evelyn's doubt.

"Then where is it?" she asks, "There's no second floor and no more rooms."

As if answering her question, Mike approaches the wooden shelf and knocks on its sides. "Jack, it's me!" he calls out, "There's someone new here that would like to see you! She's here to help!"

There's silence for a few seconds, and Mike knows that it's hesitation on his brother's behalf. The shelf then begins to slide to a side, seemingly on its own. A previously-covered doorframe comes into view, and Evelyn barely manages to catch a glimpse of the room behind it, when an unusual figure steps from behind the shelf and reveals himself to his visitor.

Even after listening to Brandon's tapes and talking with Mike and Yin, a small part of Evelyn still didn't believe the seemingly-impossible story of Freddy's. Ghosts, possessions, life-after-death… all things that belonged to fiction, not reality. However, a single stare from Jack's luminous eyes immediately shatters that notion, and the woman can't help but gasp in astonishment. The golden suit looks almost like it did over thirty years ago, only much better maintained.

"Hi Mikey." Jack says cheerily, "I missed you. Who is she?" He points a round finger at Evelyn, who's still too amazed for words.

A grinning Yin leans towards her, and whispers: "Don't worry; I had the same reaction when I met him for the first time."

"She's Evelyn Hobbs." replies Mike, "Her father was Dave, the guy who left me messages over the phone. And she finally found the red book."

"Really?!" An excited Jack turns rapidly towards the woman. He tries to look at her in the eyes, but soon finds himself staring at the floor between both of them. "Thank you very m-much."

"Eh, erm, y-you're welcome." The woman stutters back, before clearing her throat and regaining some composure. "I'm sorry, Jacob."

"You can call me Jack, i-if you want. I like it better."

"Okay, you just talked again!" Evelyn lets out a nervous chuckle, shaking her head in bewilderment. "This is really happening!" She takes a slow, deep breath, before looking back at the golden figure. "I'm sorry, Jack. I don't like being rude, but it's a bit weird to talk to someone who has the body of an animatronic bear. It's just one of those things you don't plan to do on a Saturday night, you know?"

"Don't worry Evie, you'll get used to it." says Yin casually, approaching the massive figure. "At the end of the day it's about what's inside. We're just another family; a _very _special one."

"So, your children know as well?" asks the newcomer.

Yin shakes her head. "We don't want them to be a part of this. It's hard to keep a secret from them, but it's for the best. These are things that people shouldn't know. That's why we've been hiding Jack with us for all this time."

"And that's why we have to solve this thing before Fazbear's Fright opens up in a week." adds a serious Mike, "Your friend Peter doesn't know anything about this, right?"

"I listened to those tapes alone at home and I haven't talked to him about them, so no." replies Evelyn. "It's only the four of us."

"Actually, there's five of us." The woman looks at Mike with questioning eyes. "I'm pretty sure that Jeremy would like to be a part of this. I'll call him in the morning. Is anyone feeling sleepy, by the way?"

Jack, Evelyn and Yin shake their heads almost simultaneously.

"Perfect!" Mike crosses his arms, blue eyes glinting with renewed hope. "We have one week to end this mess once and for all. Now, which one of us will be getting a job at Fazbear's Fright?"


End file.
